WASHINGTON - The lightweight 4+ crew of the Georgetown University men's rowing team won the gold medal in its grand final race to take home the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship on Sunday morning at Mercer Lake in Princeton, N.J.

It is the first IRA gold medal for the GU lightweights, and the fifth overall for the Georgetown men's rowing program. The previous four gold medals had been won by heavyweight crews, with the most recent coming in 1993.

"This is a whole team win," said Georgetown Lightweight Head Coach Giuseppe Lanzone. "This is the first time that the lightweights have won a national championship and it took the effort of the whole team and the whole coaching staff to make it happen. We are very happy with the results and hope this is a stepping stone in the right direction."

In the grand final, GU got off to a slow start and did not find themselves among the leaders. However, after the first 500 meters, Georgetown began to make a push and worked its way to the front of the pack. The Hoyas took the lead, passing Columbia at the 750-meter mark, and never looked back. They led for the final 1,200 meters and crossed the finish line in a time of 6:41.950 to take gold just 2.460 seconds ahead of second-place Columbia.

"This is a very confident group of guys," Lanzone commented. "They had an okay start but stayed within their boat and didn't' worry about other boats."

On Sunday, Georgetown's lineup consisted of junior Robert Papel (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy) as the coxswain, senior Luke Prioleau (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) in the bow seat, Kevin McGowan (Bowie, Md./Gonzaga HS) in the second seat, Hector Formoso-Murias (Key Biscayne, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep) in the third seat and Theodor Wiik (Oslo, Norway/Foss Videregaende Skole) in the stroke seat.

The Hoyas reached the grand final by winning their opening heat on Friday, finishing first in a tight, five-crew race with a time of 6:36.890. With the top three teams advancing to the grand final, Georgetown edged out a boat from Princeton by two seconds and the crew from Yale by just over five seconds to take the top spot. Penn and Temple finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to advance to the petite final. GU's time was second overall as Columbia won the second heat with a time of 6:34.710.

"Coming off a good heat, we had a lot of confidence going into the grand final," said Prioleau, Georgetown's captain. "The top boats' times were all within a couple seconds so we knew it would be a tough race. Out of the gates, we had a pretty poor start and found ourselves behind the pack. We kept composure though and made a big move right before the halfway point. We were able to row through Columbia and take the lead and hold it through the line.

"I really can't say enough about the other four guys in the boat and the effort that the entire team has put in. It's been a very long season with a lot of highs and lows. This gold medal goes back to the Hilltop and belongs to the entire G150 squad."

Georgetown also had a lightweight 4- crew race over the weekend. The Hoyas finished second in their petite final with a time of 6:47.540, just three seconds behind the boat from Yale.

GU's lineup consisted of Artym Hayda (Providence, R.I./The Wheeler School, Jack Sardinia (Hamburg, N.Y./Canisius HS), Peter Mangan (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius HS) and Conor McCarrick (Valhalla, N.Y./Fordham Prep).