June 2, 2012
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Stanford's Lightweight I Eight hit the trifecta Saturday on the Cooper River, winning its third straight IRA National Championship with a two-second victory in the Grand Final.
The Cardinal will come home with two medals, as the Four reached the podium as well, taking the silver in its Grand Final.
"That was some fantastic racing from both boats," said Stanford lightweight rowing head coach Al Acosta. "I'm especially thrilled for our six seniors to finish as they did. All of them set a really high standard for effort and attitude over the last four years. I couldn't be more proud."
The second-ranked I Eight outlasted Bucknell, Radcliffe (Harvard) and Wisconsin in Saturday's Grand Final, as those boats finished approximately two, four and five seconds behind Stanford's gold medal-winning time of 6:31.141.
The top four boats would quickly form the lead pack, fighting it out for the national title. Stanford would surge its way to the front and hold on, crossing the line 2.595 seconds ahead of Bucknell, the team the Cardinal had defeated in Friday's qualifying heat.
For the third straight year, the Cardinal overcame the nation's top-ranked team at the IRA Championships, as No. 1 Wisconsin would take fourth in the Grand Final.
In the Four Grand Final, Stanford and Wisconsin separated from the pack and it became a two-boat race. The Badgers would surge forward, though, creating space between the bows, and the Cardinal could not catch up. Stanford would finish second in a time of 7:19.463, just under five seconds back of Wisconsin's time of 7:14.633.
Stanford Lineups
I Eight
C. Jordan Duval-Smith
8. Genevieve Tuveson
7. Natalie Norton
6. Liz Fenje
5. Anna Garbier
4. Alex Cours
3. Paige Gonye
2. Kenzie Crist
1. Melissa Heaselgrave
Four
C. Zoe Wolford
4. Karyn Haitz
3. Amy Kirkham
2. Kristin Goodsell
1. Molly Hayes