Mustangs successfully defend OUA Rowing Championship titles

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men's and women's rowing teams successfully defended their provincial championship titles Friday afternoon at the 2016 OUA Rowing Championships.

This year, the OUA championships were hosted jointly by ROWONTARIO and Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and held at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ont.

The Mustangs women dominated the field once again this year, winning seven gold, two silver and a bronze medal for a total of 607 team points.  The Queen's Gaels brought home silver (265 points) and the Brock Badgers bronze (256 points) for a second straight second.

This is the four straight season and the 25^th time in program history the Western women have hoisted the Mrs. W. Lathrop Challenge Trophy, which was donated in 1976 by Mrs. W. Lathrop through Brock University.

Capturing gold for the Western women were the 2-, lightweight 8, 4+, lightweight 2x, 1x, 8+ and lightweight 2-.  The Mustangs also added a silver medal in the lightweight 1x and 4+ to go along with a bronze in the 2x.  Remarkably, the Mustangs medalled in all 10 events on their way to victory.

Other gold medals on the women's side went to the Guelph Gryphons in the lightweight 1x, the Laurentian Voyageurs in the 2x and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in the lightweight 4+.

On the men's side, the Mustangs bucked the trend and repeated as OUA champions for the first time since Western actually captured three straight between 2005-2007.  Prior to their victory on Friday, the Mustangs had alternated ownership of the P.C. Fitz-James Trophy with the rival Brock Badgers since 2009.  This is the 28^th championship title for the Mustangs men, the most by any OUA rowing program.

Western finished the competition with the trifecta: three gold, three silver and three bronze medals for a total of 464 points.  It was a second consecutive team silver medal for the Badgers who finished with 383 points, while the Trent Excalibur will bring bronze back to Peterborough once again after totaling 292 points.

The Mustangs men captured gold in the lightweight 8, lightweight 2x and the lightweight 4+.  In the 4+, 8+ and lightweight 2- Western won silver, while winning bronze in the 2-, lightweight 1x and 1x.  

On their way to a silver medal finish, the Brock Badgers also won three gold medals in the lightweight 1x, 1x and 8+.  The Excalibur won a pair of gold medals in the 2- and 2x, while the McGill Redmen and uOttawa Gee-Gees won gold in the 4+ and lightweight 2-, respectively.

This is the the 14^th time Western has swepth both the men's and women's titles and third time in the past four seasons.

The teams will now shift their focus to the Canadian University Rowing Championships (CURC) which will be held in Welland, Ont from November 4-6, 2016.

For complete race results, click here.

Women's Team Results 

Western – Gold (607 points)
Queen's – Silver (265 points)
Brock – Bronze (256 points)
Toronto (161)
Guelph (134)
McGill (127)
Carleton (111)
Ottawa (101)
Laurentian (95)
Trent (76)
McMaster (52)
Nipissing (19)
UOIT (9)

Men's Team Results

Western – Gold (464 points)
Brock – Silver (383 points)
Trent – Bronze (292 points)
McGill (241)
Queen's (168)
Ottawa (146)
McMaster (124)
Carleton (93)
Toronto (81)
UOIT (38)
Guelph (17)
Laurentian (15)
Nipissing (8)