SARASOTA, Fla. - The Bates Bobcats finished as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Championship at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida on Saturday.

> Final Team Standings
> Results

After multiple lighting delays Saturday morning, the boats finally got on the water in the early afternoon.

In the first varsity eight grand final, WPI sprinted out to an early lead it never relinquished. The Engineers won the gold medal in a time of 6:55.265. The Wellesley Blue took second with a time of 6:58.715 while the Bobcats earned the bronze medal (7:01.075). Bates found itself in last place early in the race but rallied to pass Ithaca (4th - 7:03.545), Williams (5th - 7:06.097), and Tufts (6th - 7:10.877) to grab third place.

Bates earned 34 points for the third-place finish in the 1V race. Combined with the 2V's 16 points, the Bobcats finished the NCAA Championships with 50 points. The Blue won the national title by just one point, earning 37 points for their second-place finish in the 1V grand final to go along with the 14 they picked up in the 2V race. WPI finished third overall, picking up 40 points for the Engineers' impressive 1V victory and eight points for a fifth-place showing in the 2V race. 

Ithaca placed fourth with 43 points and was followed by Williams (38 points) in fifth and Tufts (31 points) in sixth. Pacific Lutheran (26 points) and St. Mary's (21 points) rounded out the eight competing teams.