The pair combination of stroke Justin Ott (Junior) and bow Mark McIlduff (Graduate Assistant Men’s Coach) rowed through the field to capture the Jesus College Spare Pair trophy at the Henley Royal Regatta. Racing began at 10:00am as GVSU opened up against Sailsbury School. The pair coasted to an open water victory and faced St. Joes Prep in the semifinals. After a rough start in which the Lakers clashed oars with the barrier, the guys were able to pull through the assistant coaches of St. Joes Prep in a furious finish to win by 1 and 1/2 lengths. The sprint at the finish set up a match up at 11:00am with University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Again, the Laker Navy pair fell behind at the start by a lengh, but were able to hold tight into the final 500 meters. Narrowing the open water margin with each stroke, the Grand Valley pair powered through the head wind with a wildly agressisive sprint to overtake the South African crew in the final ten strokes and win by a deck. The win marks Grand Valley’s first victory at the Henley Royal Regatta.