The N.C. State club rowing team traveled to Boston, Mass. this weekend to participate in the Head of the Charles regatta and placed higher than expected, finishing 11th out of 43 clubs from all over North America.

The “Charles,” the world’s largest rowing event, is an invitational race that begins at the Boston University Bridge and ends at the Elliot Bridge. The race has been held for 44 consecutive years.

“Once we saw our times and saw that we were right up there in the top 20 percent in the largest regatta in the world, it felt pretty good,” Danny Heater, a senior in engineering, said. “Once we saw that UNC finished in the bottom ten, it felt even better.”

Riverside Boat club won the event, and University of Pittsburgh and Boston University were included in the top ten. State edged the Boston-based Union Boat Crew by “about four seconds.”

“Last year Harvard finished 7 seconds in front of us, so to have them placed right in front of them and to have us beat them by that much was a nice bit of revenge,” Duran Pardue, a senior in chemistry, said.

“I know it’s just a club team, but it’s still a very, very good crew,” Pardue said.

The crew team’s coach, William White, a senior in psychology, said that he was proud of both team’s performances, especially in such a large and prestigious event.

“4.8% off the lead boat, the lowest N.C. State has ever seen at this particular regatta,” White said. “They beat a lot of good teams, and this is definitely the best performance we’ve seen from this boat.”

White and the crew staff made a late decision to send a women’s team, and the boat finished 33 out of 39 competitors. The finish wasn’t what the Pack hoped for, but it was impressive considering that the women were not even expected to attend.

“It’s the first time in a long while that we’ve sent a women’s crew to this competition,” Pardue said.

The top four male and female rowers were selected to participate in this Regatta, and the boats practiced on their own in addition to regularly-scheduled daily practices.

Nicole Mosley, a sophomore in education and a novice in her first season with the N.C. State rowing team, was included in the club’s four women team members, an occurrence White called “usually unheard of.”

“She was really able to step up,” White said.

If a club finishes in the top 50 percent the previous year, they receive an automatic bye into the race. However, if a team places in the lower half, its spot is not assured the following year.

“They’ll have to hope for an invitation next year,” Heater said, “but they’ll probably get it.”

Heater said the team benefitted from good conditions, never a given for a regatta held in the northeast.

“Once we got up into the race, it was terribly exciting, it was warm — for Boston — and the wind wasn’t too bad,” Heater said.

The crew team’s next event will be the Head of the Hooch held in Chattanooga, Tenn. in two weeks.