June 7, 2008

Photo Gallery

CAMDEN, N.J. - Boston University's JV eight placed third in the Petite Final to finish ninth overall at the 2008 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships Saturday on the Cooper River. It was the JV's highest finish since 2005 when the eight placed eighth.

The straight four placed sixth in its Petite to finish 12th overall, while the varsity eight came across fourth in the Third Level Final to finish 16th.

"I thought the varsity eight had some good chances," said head coach Rodney Pratt. "The JV eight was very exciting to watch in the Petite Final. They really went for it at the end. I'm very psyched for next year; we have four sophomores in the varsity eight and six in the JV, and we gained speed throughout the year. We're in a good position for the fall."

In the JV eight, Northeastern got off to an early lead, joined by BU, Harvard "B" and Cornell. The Terriers were up a 1/2 length on the Crimson in the second 500 as Princeton and Oregon State started to fade; Cornell took the lead around the 1000 meter mark. Harvard slipped back to fourth while BU and NU dueled for second. BU made a big push at 1200m. The Huskies had a seven-seat lead on BU in the final 500 meters, but the Terriers had started to sprint around 600m and very nearly came back on NU. Northeastern edged BU by 0.02 seconds for second place.

The straight four race was delayed slightly after Brown false-started and the crews were called back to the stake boats. Rochester got out to an early lead in the second start, followed by MIT, Brown, Georgetown, BU and Minnesota in the first 500. But by 750 meters, BU slipped to sixth as Minnesota made a huge run down the rest of the course to end up in second.

In BU's last race of the day, the varsity eight was also delayed - this time due to debris about 200m down the course. The tailwind that blew through the JV finals died down and the varsity went off the line in flat water. Dartmouth, rowing a 45, moved out ahead of Syracuse, Michigan, Oregon State and BU, and Penn. The Big Blue quickly moved ahead of the Orange by 300, followed by the Terriers who were only one seat behind Michigan by 500 meters after they vaulted both Syracuse and a fading Dartmouth eight. Rowing a 36 1/2, Boston University pulled even with UM by 750m with SU right behind. It was a very tight race through the 1000m mark.

The Big Green and Syracuse both surged, with 'Cuse rowing through Michigan in the third 500 meters. The Terriers slipped to fourth in that stretch and fought Dartmouth at the line.

RESULTS

Straight Four Petite Final: Brown 6:34.07, Minnesota 6:37.42, Rochester 6:39.06, Georgetown 6:43.80, MIT 6:46.85, Boston U 6:49.31

JV Eight Petite Final: Cornell 5:46.71, Northeastern 5:50.142, Boston U 5:50.164, Harvard "B" 5:53.45, Oregon State 5:53.78, Princeton 6:04.52

Varsity Eight Third Level Final: Syracuse 5:44.80, Oregon State 5:45.00, Dartmouth 5:49.81, Boston U 5:50.82, Penn 6:01.81