Madison Boats are Champions, Medalists and Finalists in State Championships

Rowers for the James Madison Crew Team captured a championship, three sets of bronze medals and top 4 and 5 spots in the recent state championships (Ted Phoenix for lower boats on May 2 and the Virginia State Rowing Championships on May 9).

At the Ted Phoenix, Madison’s Men’s Third Varsity Eight won the state championship for the second year in a row. The Men’s Fourth Varsity Eight competing for the first time at a state championship won a bronze medal. The Women’s Freshman Eight won their first ever medal for Madison in state competition in freshman final; and the Men’s Freshman Eight also won bronze medal in a very competitive final.

At the Virginia State Rowing Championships, all four varsity eights (Men’s and Women’s 1V and 2V) advanced to the finals, with both the Men’s and Women’s 1V both finishing fourth by a razor thin margin behind the 3rd place finishers. The Men’s and Women’s 2V both finished in fifth place, again less than a second behind 4th place finishers. The Women’s First Varsity Four also competed, but did not advance in a very crowded field.

James Madison is taking eight boats (Men’s Freshman Eight, Lightweight Eight, Junior Eight and Varsity Four; and Women’s Freshman Eight, First and Second Eights and Varsity Four) to this weekend’s Stotesbury Regatta in Philadelphia. It is the oldest and largest high school regatta in North America.

By virtue of their performance at the state championships, on Memorial Day weekend, five Madison boats will compete in the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s National Championships—the Men’s and Women’s First Varsity Eights, the Men’s and Women’s Freshman Eights; the Men’s Junior Eight and the Women’s Second Varsity Eight.