Bucknell claimed its first lightweight national championship and made program history on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., at this year’s IRA Championships. A sixth-place finish in last year’s final was its previous best.

“We have a great group of rowers that came together for this race without knowing where they would stand,” said Head Coach Steve Kish. “They were very patient with progress throughout the season. I was proud of their approach going into the heats and sticking to our race plan--really remaining calm and collected in the midst of battle.”

The Bison advanced Friday in the top slot of their heat, with Princeton in second. “I had no idea what to expect,” recalled five-seat Whittney Henry. “I didn’t know where we would rank up to any of the other crews. We didn’t want to be over-confident. We just wanted to go and race as hard as we could, knowing that everyone had more to give for the final.”

In the final, Bucknell and Princeton raced dead even through the 500-meter mark, before Bucknell began pulling away at the halfway point. “We extended the lead with 250 meters left,” said Kish. “At that point, I had no idea what this crew was capable of. I thought, wow, we have a shot at doing something—a shot at winning it.”

“The race was totally unexpected; I don’t think anybody saw it coming,” said Henry. “The last 1,000 meters, we just continued pulling away from everyone, knowing that they weren’t going to catch us.”

A memorable call of “in 20 strokes, you are national champions” from coxswain Jeweliet Yost brought the crew sprinting home. The Bison responded and beat No. 2-seeded Princeton by over three seconds to finish with a time of 6:36.01.

“It was really a moment of pure joy,” said Kish. “With the field of crews competing, this makes a statement for lightweight rowing. This is one of the tightest spreads in the last five years.”

Wisconsin, who claimed the title each of the three previous years, clocked a 6:40.50 for third place. They were followed by Radcliffe (6:43.41), Stanford (6:44.10), and Georgetown (6:47.50).

With six rowers returning from this year’s winning crew, Kish is looking forward to defending several other major titles next season. Bucknell brought home the team trophy at both the Patriot League Championships and ECAC Metro Championships, winning sets of gold medals in the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four. The Bison also won the overall points trophy at the Murphy Cup earlier in the spring.

“I think our boat was a great representation of our entire program,” said Henry. “Each of us came from different lineups, but we were able to contribute something special to this boat. I think this definitely added to our success.”

“It makes you think that anything is possible,” said Kish. “It’s definitely possible.”