University of the Fraser Valley Rowing sent a trio of members from its men's program to the National Development Trials, held along Burnaby Lake April 20-21.

All three UFV rowers hail from Langley.

Alex Janzen and Mat Morrison competed in the U23 men's pair sweep oar boat category, and had an extremely good result, bringing in a third place time against internationally-experienced competitors.

Janzen tested out as the top novice university athlete in Canada, 2011-12, last fall, beating out some of the top athletes from across Canada.

He and Morrison raced for the first time at UVic's Spring Sprints in March, and earned the second highest placing in the Elk Lake Sprints to the national Olympic men's team, in the Men's Open sweep oar boat.

Antony Dayton - another new recruit to rowing at UFV - placed an impressive ninth in a pool of 21 other men in single sculling boats.

In the process, Dayton received a medal for the top novice single sculling boat entry in the event.

Janzen and Dayton were introduced to rowing at UFV's undergrad program in September 2011. Morrison joined in September 2010.

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The objective of the trials was to provide a competitive experience for future high-performance athletes early in the competitive season.

The trials are one of the many performance measures used to assess the progress of developing athletes.

Performance results from this event will be used to invite athletes to participate in RCA 2012 national team selection camps for the senior non-Olympic, U23 programs.