PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Rhode Island won its ninth Atlantic 10 Rowing Championship Saturday, rallying behind its Varsity 8 boat to finish first with 52 points at the Cooper River Park.
 
The Rams were trailing second-place George Washington by one point heading into the V8 Grand Final, but a first place finish in 7:00.03 gave Rhody the race win and the A-10 title. URI, which won the Varsity 4 race and finished second in the Second Varsity 8, earns the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
 
GW, which won the Second Varsity 8 with a time of 7:08.342, place second overall with 50 points. It marks the third straight year the Colonials have placed second. Massachusetts was third with 37 points, followed by Fordham in fourth with 34, Saint Joseph's in fifth with 33 points, sixth place Dayton (26) and seventh place Duquesne (17). La Salle and George Mason rounded out the team finishes.

Rhode Island head coach Shelagh Donohoe was voted A-10 Coach of the Year, marking the fourth straight year she's won the ward and the eighth overall.

Anna Sampson, Julia Fortin, Hailey Pardi, Emily Drappeau, Nicole Jones, Kathryn Zeglen, Jennae Alexander, Cathleen Castle, Ellie McGee won the Varsity 8 race for Rhode Island with a time of 7:00.003.
 
GW finished first in the Second Varsity 8 with a 7:08.342 Alexa Nealy, Eileen McKenna (7), Lindsay O'Neil, Grace Grimsted, Chambers Miller, Mia Cremona, Anne Avendt, Mary Grace Konopka and Olivia Cantrell.
 
The Rhode Island team of Samantha Gorecki, Katherine Gillies, Sarah Pecoraro, Olivia Kowalski, Danielle Swan finished in 8:22.304 to win the Varsity 4.

Rhody also won the exhibition Varsity 4B and Third Varsity 8. The 4VB team of Rhode Island. Hannah Bachert, Tessa LeMay, Lauren Thomas, Jessica Tosi and Caitlyn Muteru finished in 8:30.229. Tessa LeMay, Hannah Bachert, Ella Godsey, Lauren Thomas, Kaitlin Pelletier, Kaitlyn Kutz, Jessica Tosi, Isabella Caldwell and Sawyer McNishMade up the 3V8 team, which finished at 7:48.036.