The Fordham lightweight 4, comprised of Alexandra McDonald (stroke), Courtney Cambria (3), Maura O'Donnell (2), Jenn Amoroso (bow) and Megan Feerick (coxswain), is this week's female athlete of the week.

The Fordham University lightweight 4 saved its best for last, taking bronze at the 2014 Division I IRA National Championships today on Mercer Lake. It is the second straight year that the Fordham varsity lightweight four has earned bronze at the IRA National Championships.
 
Competition began on Saturday as the Rams were edged out in their heat by Stanford, placing second just 0.453 seconds behind the Cardinal, but well ahead of MIT.
 
The second place finish meant Fordham would have to row in the repêchage to qualify for the grand finals. And the Rams did just that, placing second in the repêchage behind Radcliffe. Fordham finished in front of Boston University, Princeton and MIT to advance to the finals.
 
In the finals, the Rams challenged Stanford for second place, with Wisconsin winning the race in 7:25.845, but the Rams placed 2.005 seconds behind the Cardinal (and less than five seconds behind Wisconsin) to earn the bronze medal.