Deland, Fla. - The Drake University rowing team wrapped up a competitive season opener against multiple opponents, including two fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference members in Jacksonville and Stetson. The Bulldogs managed three second place finishes, two of which came from their 1V8 rowing team, on the 2,000-meter course on Lake Beresford.

The Bulldogs started their first V4 race Saturday at 10:15. a.m. The boat took third place, 32.78 seconds behind Florida Tech. That same 1V4 boat would also finish in third place in the Saturday afternoon race with a time of 9:12.38, just shy of a minute slower than conference foe Jacksonville (8:12.80). Sunday morning was no different, placing third in the 8:00 a.m. race, timing in at 9:40.71.

Drake's 1V8 boat was the next in action Saturday morning. They rowed to second place, timed in at 7:03.09. They were just 18.73 second behind Stetson and got a slight 4.01 second victory over FIT. They would place in second again that afternoon (7:08.72), also behind Stetson by almost the same margin (18.78). They topped a third place Barry team by 6.13 seconds. However, on Sunday the Bulldogs slowed place for a time of 8:17.35 and got edged out by Stetson by 21.72 seconds.

The next boat operated by Bulldogs to race was the 2V8 team. They placed fourth of five Saturday morning as they managed a time of 7:47.55. They finished 1:05.55 ahead of the StetsonN8 team. This V8 team improved later that afternoon timing in at 7:40.97, just 16.56 seconds behind Stetson. The Bulldogs topped the Stetson 3V team by 49.10 seconds in this race. Sunday was a good day for these athletes as they managed to row themselves to a second place finish on Sunday. Jacksonville won the race by 24.42 second by Drake sailed to a 30.48 second advantage over Stetson, a team that placed in front of the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs concluded the day with their 2V4 boat, which finished third in the morning race (9:12.00), 16.96 seconds behind Stetson, and fourth on Saturday afternoon (9:11.60).

With the conclusion of this competition in Deland Fla., the Bulldogs will prepare for a head-to-head competition in Omaha, Neb. with Creighton on April 17.