Rowing season ends with a top-10 finish at nationals

For the second straight year, Nik Vantfoort of the UOIT rowing team has earned a top-10 finish at the Canadian University Rowing Association (CURA) national championship.

On Sunday in Nova Scotia, Vantfoort finished in third place in the “B” finals, putting him in ninth-place overall in the men’s singles event. It was one of the most tightly contested races of the regatta as Vanfoort edged out Carleton by less than a second, while finishing less than two seconds behind the University of Victoria.

Sunday’s result was a big improvement for Vantfoort as he raced in the “C” finals one year ago. His other top-10 finish came in 2014 in the pairs event along with teammate Brett Bullock.

This season, Bullock teamed up with Braden Reid in the pairs event and just missed out on a top-10 performance as they finished in fifth place in the “B” finals, leading them to a finish of eleventh overall. The crew from Dalhousie finished .74 seconds ahead of the Ridgebacks. In the time trials on Saturday, UOIT had the eighth fastest time.

UOIT’s last entry at the national championship was in the women’s singles race with Daria Ruginis making her second straight appearance at the event. Ruginis finished in second place in the “C” finals.

This was UOIT’s third straight and fourth ever appearance at the national regatta. The CURA national championship was the last regatta of the year for the UOIT crew.