The Bucknell Men completed their regular-season in Gainesville, Ga at the 1996 Olympic venue on Lake Lanier over the Memorial Day weekend. Weather was favorable with temps in the high 80’s and slight tailwind conditions on both days of racing.
The racing on Saturday was heats and reps only, and the Bison men were in position to advance to Sunday with each of the three crews entered only having to race once. That pursuit began with the Freshman 4+, who faced difficult tailwind conditions but were still able to advance directly to their semi by placing 3rd behind George Mason and Washington State. The next Bison crew to come down the course was the 2nd Varsity 8+ who were able to advance in 2nd place only 1 second behind rival Virginia and open water ahead of Delaware in 3rd. The final race of the day was that of the Bucknell Varsity, who were able to establish an early lead and eventually win by 1 length over UC Santa Barbara to advance to the Semi-final.
Sunday promised tight racing with slight tailwind conditions and temps in the high 80’s the first semi-final to be contested was the freshman 4+, with 4 of the 8 crews advancing to the Grand Final, seeking to conserve energy the 4+ was able to advance comfortably in 4th behind Virginia, George Mason and Wichita State. The Grand Final proved to be some of the tightest racing of the weekend, with the Bison 4+ fighting for the medals in the first 1000m, but unable to keep pace with the leaders as the race came down to the sprint – dropping to finish 7th overall.
The Grand Final of the 2nd 8+ saw the Michigan 2V press out to an early lead, leaving the rest of the medals to be sorted by Bucknel, Virginia and UCSB. Places 2nd thru 4th were closed contact for the entirety of the race, with Virginia eventually taking 2nd, with Bucknell taking the Bronze, 0.8s behind Virginia and 0.4 ahead of UCSB in 4th. This marks the first time in program history that a Bucknell 2V has medaled at the ACRA.
The Grand Final of the Varsity 8+ promised to finish the weekend in style, after finishing 3rd in their semi, the Bison 1V drew lane 2 for the highly anticipated final. The first 500m saw Michigan move out to an early lead as Virginia, Grand Valley, Bucknell and UCSB fought to stay on terms for the medals. As the pace picked up in the last 750m, the Bison were unable to stay in medal contention as Michigan cruised to the win, with Virginia 2nd, Grand Valley 3rd, UCSB 4th and Bucknell finishing 5th.
The Bison men will enjoy 2 weeks off before training begins for the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta which will be held on the 4th of July Holiday week at Henley-on-Thames, UK.