The University of Dayton rowing team highlighted a successful weekend at the SIRA Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with a first-place finish Saturday in the Varsity Lightweight 8 competition. The Flyers were able to hold off Central Florida, which last year finished in sixth place at the IRA lightweight national championship, in what head coach Michael Farrey called "a very big win for the lightweights."

In the Lightweight 8 shell were Kate Sanders, Marie Doenges, Anson Brennan, Joanne Sklodowski, Katy Jo Brown, Addie Patterson, Liz Goins, Lisa Pedevillano, and Meghan Riley.

The freshman Lightweight 4 of Jess Mortimer, Jess Trun, Emily Nicklies, Sarah Thorpe and Melissa Brandfass continued to represent UD well, coming away with a second-place finish to Tennessee-Chattanooga on Saturday.

The Varsity 8 finished first in their petite finals, seventh place overall. The second Varsity 8 shell took 6th place, while the Varsity 4 and Varsity Lightweight 4 finished sixth and fifth place respectively. The Novice 8 took eighth place, the Second Novice 8 fifth, and the Novice 4 won fifth place in its petite for an 11th place overall.

This year's SIRA field was much stiffer competition than in past years' with the presence of Louisville, the University of Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Next meet for the Flyers is the weekend of April 23, when the Flyers travel to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.