PENNSAUKEN, N.J. -- The Bates women's second varsity eight completed a remarkable journey from the repechage to the top of the world on Saturday, winning the crew's ninth straight gold medal at the NCAA Rowing Championships.  

"Nine straight gold medals, I'm not sure that is real," head coach Peter Steenstra said. "It shows not just the depth of the program but how competitive the bottom is as they push up, and then how unified the group is that comes here." 

The Bobcats scored 41 points as a team, with the first varsity eight earning 25 points for their sixth-place finish and the second varsity eight picking up the maximum 16 points with their first-place showing. The 41 points tied the Bobcats with NESCAC foe Tufts for third overall, with the Jumbos earning the tiebreaker on the strength of their fourth-place finish in the 1V race. Wellesley won their second straight NCAA championship with their gold-medal finish in the 1V race and second-place showing in the 2V race. 

Led by senior coxswain Isabella Sobolewski (Washington, D.C.) and junior stroke Genesis Bussey (Bronx, N.Y.), the Bobcats rowed the race of their lives in the second varsity eight grand final. In lane one after qualifying via Friday's repechage, Bates raced to the finish in 7:10.463, beating runner-up Wellesley by 0.782 seconds. 

The Bobcats trailed the Blue by about two seconds for the first 1,000 meters of the 2K course, then Bates took over in the next 500, grabbing a lead down the stretch they did not relinquish. 

It is believed to be the first time in the current format of the NCAA Division III Championships that a crew has gone from the repechage to winning the grand final. 

"We raced our race today, and it's an incredible feeling to cross the line first for the ninth year in a row as a team," senior third seat Ollie Young (Burlington, Vt.) said. "It's a young crew and we really needed that repechage to refocus, because there were a lot of nerves at first. But we got our confidence back and it showed. It's been an immense privilege to be a Bates rower for the last four years, and I couldn't be more thankful."  

The first varsity eight raced into a headwind and took sixth place in Saturday's grand final, crossing the finish line in 7:24.793. 

This marks the 15th time in the 16 years Bates has qualified for NCAAs that they've finished in the top four in the country as a team. 

Bates WV8 lineup: Bow: Darya Lee; 2: Hannah Burdick; 3: Josephine Stevens; 4: Molly Connors; 5: Livia Bernhardt; 6: Katarina Dickson; 7: Eliana Weissmann; Stroke: Casey Winter; c: Lucy Del Col

Bates W2V8 lineup: Bow: Hannah de Fontaine; 2: Hope Stamp; 3: Ollie Young; 4: Olivia Szachta; 5: Lauren Cockrill; 6: Quinn Gleason; 7: Lydia Barker; Stroke: Genesis Bussey; c: Isabella Sobolewski

Alternate: Abigail Somosky

Alternate: Eloise Botka

Alternate Cox: Olivia Seline