Varsity, Freshman Crews Finish Sixth At IRA Championships
June 4, 2005 | Men's Rowing
CAMDEN, NJ--The present and the future bode well for the Terrier crew as the varsity heavyweight and freshman eight each finished sixth in the Grand Finals of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship which concluded on Saturday, June 5 on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ.
The heavyweight crew, who was seeded seventh entering the competition, rebounded from a disappointing opening-heat performance on Thursday, June 2 to advance to the finals on Saturday.
There, they covered the 2000-meter course in 5:49.92. Harvard won its third straight IRA title with a time of 5:31.68, while Princeton was second in 5:32.94. Next, in order, came California (5:35.9), Washington (5:37.7), Northeastern (5:37.97), and the Terriers.
In the meantime, the freshman eight rowed in 6:02.92. California captured the freshman race with a time of 5:49.94. Harvard was next (5:53.71) with Washington (5:54.04) third. Penn was fourth in 5:57.33 and next came Princeton (5:59.94) followed by the Terriers.
Finally, the second varsity finished second in the Petite Finals to Harvard. The Crimson boat was clocked in 5:51.63 compared the to the Terriers' 5:52.98. Princeton trailed both Harvard and B.U. with a time of 5:55.4. Then came Navy (5:56.23), Penn (6:05.7), and Syracuse (6:11.94).
For the Terriers' varsity boat, it had been a long three days of rowing set up by its fourth-place finish in its first heat of the competition on Thursday. They had to come back in the afternoon repechage, and had they not fared well, they would have been relegated to the third-level finals. But, the Terriers responded to the challenge by beating Rutgers, Columbia, and Florida Tech to earn a berth in Friday's semifinals.
The Terriers covered the 2,000-meter course in 6:10.30, while Rutgers was second in 6:15.0, Columbia was third in 6:15.80, and Florida Tech was fourth in 6:21.90.
Then, in Friday's semis, the Terriers competed against Washington, California, Stanford, Yale, and Oregon State. Again, the Terriers answered the challenge by finishing second only to Washington--6:00.26 to 6:03.65. California was third in 6:03.99, while Stanford was fourth (6:07.59). Yale was next (6:15.91) with Oregon State (6:16.81) rounding out the heat.
That set the stage for Saturday's Grand Finals.
The freshman eight rowed in one less race than the varsity as the crew did not have to row in a repechage on Thursday afternoon. The reason is the Terriers advanced to Friday's semifinals by virtue of its finishing second in the morning heat. The Terriers, who were seeded sixth, trailed only third-seeded Princeton by less than two seconds--6:09.96 to 6:11.26.
In Friday's semifinals, B.U. were pitted against Harvard, Washington, Navy, Cornell, and Virginia. In this race, the Terriers finished third with a time of 6:24.61. Washington (6:14.96) and Harvard (6:16.35) finished 1-2 with Navy (6:28.93), Cornell (6:35.49) and Virginia (6:50.42) coming in behind the Terriers.
Then came Saturday's Grand Finals.
The second varsity, which was seeded 10 th in the competition, finished third in its opening heat on Thursday, with a time of 6:19.86. Both California (6:07.87) and Harvard (6:12.91) finished ahead of the Terriers. Then, in the afternoon repechage, B.U. finished second to the University of Pennsylvania in the repechage. The Quakers won the event in 6:17.71, while the Terriers were clocked in 6:19.3.
That sent the Terriers to Friday's semifinals, the Terriers will row against Cornell, Yale, Washington, Harvard, and Navy. There, B.U. finished fourth with a time of 6:15.15, while Cornell won the heat with a clocking of 6:06.87. Yale was next in 6:09.25 with Washington third (6:10.37). Then came the Terriers followed by Harvard (6:16.19) and Navy (6:20.79).
The fourth-place finish sent the Terriers to the Petite Finals.
