The No. 3 Radcliffe varsity lightweight eight entered Saturday’s Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships looking to catch Princeton and Wisconsin for what would be the Black and White’s sixth National Championship since 1991.

Instead Radcliffe found itself in trouble, narrowly edging Mercyhurst by a little over one-tenth of a second to finish third behind defending national champion Princeton and last year’s runner-up Wisconsin.

The Tigers and Badgers started the Grand Final tied atop the national poll, but only Princeton won the national title on Saturday, posting a time of 6:26.64. Wisconsin placed second behind the Tigers in 6:30.07 while the Black and White repeated as third in the nation.

Three weeks ago, Radcliffe finished third at Eastern Sprints, 12 seconds off of Princeton’s winning pace. The Black and White had hoped to improve upon this finish and move out of the Tiger and Badger shadows that have dominated the division.

However, it was not to be.

The Black and White could only knock a second off the gap and was 11 seconds off Princeton’s pace.

Radcliffe was challenged instead by an unlikely suspect, No. 15 Mercyhurst. In a dramatic dash for the final podium position, the Black and White narrowly crossed the line first in a time of 6:37.44. Mercyhurst finished a little over two feet behind at 6:37.59.

In the preliminary heat, Radcliffe posted a time of 6:52.47, five seconds behind Wisconsin’s finish. Mercyhurst was nine seconds behind the Black and White, a margin that all but disappeared in the Grand Final.

As only the winner in the two heats earned an automatic bid to the Grand Finals, Radcliffe was forced to race in the second repechage where the Black and White easily won in a time of 6:58.83, six seconds ahead of second-place UCSB.

Radcliffe finished its season with the third rank in the east and the nation.