Princeton, N.J. - Mercyhurst Men's Lightweight Rowing got back out on the water for the first time this spring Saturday afternoon with a pair of races in the National Lightweight Invitational. Mercyhurst was able to come in first in the first of their sessions while finishing third in the second. 

The Lakers were first faced with Delaware University with Mercyhurst getting the win by nearly full 13 seconds as coach Spracklen's crew finished with a time of 5:55.8 while their counterpart crossed at 6:08.0. Their second race came against MIT and Princeton who was ranked fourth in the most recent Pocock CRCA Coaches' Poll with the Lakers coming in third with a time of 5:53.4.

Hear from Coach

"This was our first race of the season so racing the elite programs was going to be an early indicator of where we are at and what we need to do. With us racing a top team in Princeton, we knew it could be a humbling experience and, although we were hoping for a closer result, it is a fair indicator of the work we need to do," said Spracklen when looking back on the experience. "We clearly have some work to do but the season is young and we have a lot of things that we can control that will make us faster. It's back to work Monday morning."

Next Race

Mercyhurst hits the water again later this month in the Knecht Cup with men's heavyweight and women's rowing joining the men's lightweight for that competition. The Lakers go to Cherry Hill, N.J. for that event as they are set to race starting on Saturday, April 15th, and finish up the following day.