2:42 p.m., May 31, 2007--The University of Delaware Men's Rowing Club capped its spring racing season by competing in the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, May 11-12, and the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass., on May 21.

At the Dad Vail Regatta, the UD varsity heavyweight eight advanced to the petite final, where they lined up against St. Joseph's University, Lehigh University, the University of San Diego, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Grand Valley State University, finishing fifth, just 0.2 seconds out of third place.

“The other crews got out a little on us at the start, but with 750 meters left we started to sprint and nearly caught the two other crews at the finish line,” Pete Seymour, a member of the varsity heavyweight crew at the stroke position, said.

The freshmen/novice eight turned in a second-place performance in the grand final, finishing just 2.7 seconds behind first-place Bucknell University. The novice four team made it to the semifinals, finishing 11 seconds off qualifying time for the grand final.

“Our performance at the Dad Vail Regatta showed how deep our freshmen/novice heavyweight team has been all year,” Joe Kleiman, novice coach said.

In the Eastern Sprints, the varsity lightweight four earned UD's first ever league championship victory, while the freshmen lightweight eight crew finished sixth in the petite final.

The Delaware junior varsity lightweight eight took first place in the petite final against competitors Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and Dartmouth College.

“We were able to establish a lead early on and firmly hold on to it throughout the race,” Pete Bundy, junior varsity lightweight eight stroke, said.

The varsity lightweight eight finished fourth in the petite final.

Delaware crew is competing in the national championship Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta in Camden, N.J., from May 31-June 2.