Pennsauken, N.J.  – Rutgers women’s crew collected 62 points en route to a fifth-place showing at the 2009 BIG EAST Rowing Championships on Saturday, April 25, at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J.

Notre Dame took first place with 112 points, while Syracuse finished second with 97 and Louisville took third with 92 points. Georgetown finished the championship in fourth place overall with 85 points, followed by the Scarlet Knights in fifth and Connecticut in sixth place with 57 points. Rounding out the group were Villanova in seventh place with 46 points and West Virginia taking eighth place with 38 points.

Rutgers placed fourth in the grand final of the novice eight, clocking a time of 7:18.837, finishing ahead of West Virginia (7:21.641) and Villanova (7:23.201). Syracuse won the event in 7:01.713, while Notre Dame took second (7:08.309) and Georgetown placed third (7:16.783).

The Scarlet Knights’ first and second varsity eights placed fifth in the grand finals of their respective races.

The varsity eight posted a time of 6:57.299, crossing the line ahead of Connecticut in 7:08.959. Louisville won in 6:30.845, followed by second-place finisher Notre Dame (6:35.775), Georgetown in third (6:39.289) and Syracuse in fourth (6:43.507).

The second varsity eight clocked a time of 7:05.264 to edge Georgetown (7:08.016) which finished sixth. Notre Dame took the top spot with a time of 6:42.547, followed by Louisville (6:46.253), Syracuse (6:50.254) and Connecticut in fourth (7:04.543).

Rutgers will return to Cooper River Park on Saturday, May 2, for the Metro Championships.