Rutgers Rowing Nationally Ranked After Winning Doc Hosea Invitational

The Rutgers rowing team made history on Wednesday, as they are now ranked 15th in country in the latest Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/USRowing Coaches Poll. Not only is it the highest ranking in program history, this is the first time they’ve been ranked since the national poll transitioned to team rankings back in 2010. This comes a few days after Rutgers won the Doc Hosea Invitational, beating out then no. 14 Syracuse and then no. 15 Minnesota for the team trophy.

This strong performance followed a season opening result that included winning three events at the Cooper Sprints, highlighted by a win over then no. 20 Duke. The program earned Big Ten Boat of the Week honors last week following that triumph.

From last weekend, Rutgers won the varsity eight Grand Final in 6:32.00, just finishing ahead of then No. 14 Syracuse, who finished in second with a time of 6:32.31. In was then No. 15 Minnesota at 6:34.50. RU went on to win the Grand Final over both schools in second varsity as well with Rutgers finishing with a top time of 6:47.09, followed by Syracuse at 6:52.43 and Penn at 6:52.50. Here are the complete team standings for the Doc Hosea Invitational, which took place on Saturday, March 30th in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Rutgers Athletics

It’s a special event for Rutgers to win, as it’s named after former Rutgers team orthopedist Dr. Timothy Hosea. He worked for the athletic department for over three decades and was team physician for the US Rowing National Team as well. Dr. Hosea passed away suddenly in 2015.

”I’m really proud of our entire team today,” said head coach Justin Price. “We are continuing to show a lot of growth and improvement in all areas. Winning a competition named after and dedicated to Doc Hosea makes today extra special because of what he means to Rutgers.”

In just Price’s second season in charge, he has already taken the program to new heights. After being nominated for US Rowing’s Fan Choice for Coach of the Year last fall, he is off to a tremendous start this spring. It seemed like a promising hire back when Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs brought Price on board back in July 2017. If Price continues to produce similar results as he has so far this season, he will certainly go down as one of the best hires Hobbs ever makes on the banks.

Another notable achievement with rowing entering the national rankings is that per athletic communications head Kevin Lorincz, Rutgers has now had multiple teams ranked during all three seasons of the 2018-2019 school year: women’s soccer and field hockey in the fall; wrestling and women’s basketball in the winter; men’s lacrosse and rowing in the spring. In addition, men’s basketball and gymnastics each earned two victories over ranked opponents this past winter and softball entered Big Ten play with a winning record. Men’s lacrosse just defeated then no. 4 and previously unbeaten Ohio State, while it was just a whole week and a half ago that Rutgers saw Anthony Ashnault and Nick Suriano win wrestling national titles as well. Some steps have been bigger than others, but as whole Rutgers athletics is making real strides this school year, with rowing as the latest example.

Rutgers rowing returns to action on Saturday, April 13 taking part in a Big Ten Double Dual against Michigan State (one spot away from entering national rankings) and no. 6 Michigan. The dual is taking place at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio at 9 a.m. They will then head to Princeton on April 27th to compete against the no. 5 Tigers, no. 11 Wisconsin, and Columbia.