June 3, 2011
IRA Championships Central
Live Webcast Info
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Stanford men's rowing's Four boat advanced to the IRA Championships Grand Final Friday, while the I Eight and Frosh Eight finished outside of the top three in their respective semifinals and will race in Saturday's petite finals.
The I Eight was edged out of the final Grand Final qualifying spot by 0.63 of a second, despite posting the fourth-fastest time of the day amongst all 12 boats in the semifinal round, and the fastest time ever recorded by a Stanford boat at the IRA Championships (5:31.346).
"The men released a significant amount of courage, loyalty, spirit and proficiency upon one another," said Stanford men's rowing head coach Craig Amerkhanian. "Our varsity four is in the grand final while our varsity eight put up the fourth-fastest time of the day. Our effort was worthy of the grand final but Wisconsin held us off by six-tenths of a second."
"In 21 years of Pac-10 collegiate coaching this day is my proudest regarding the maximum effort and brotherhood revealed by the Stanford varsity entries," Amerkhanian added.
Stanford's Four advanced to Saturday's Grand Final with a second-place finish in the second semifinal of its class. The Cardinal boat battled for the lead against the crew from the U.S. Naval Academy, in the end finishing with a time of 6:20.087, seven-thousandths of a second behind the Midshipmen.
The Four will race in the grand final Saturday, tentatively scheduled for 6:09 a.m. PT (9:09 a.m. ET).
In the I Eight semifinal round, the Cardinal found itself in what would end up as the fastest heat of the day. With the four-pack of Stanford, Harvard, Washington and Wisconsin chasing for three grand final spots, Harvard and Washington pulled ahead to take first and second. Stanford and Wisconsin were left to battle for the final spot, and the Badgers would end up capturing the berth by 0.63 of a second ahead of Stanford's time of 5:31.346.
The I Eight's petite final is set for a 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) start Saturday.
The Frosh Eight, racing in the first semifinal of its class, took fifth with a time of 5:53.084, and will race in Saturday's grand final at 6:45 a.m.PT (9:45 a.m. ET).
"Our frosh eight raced fierce, start to finish before being nosed out for fourth. The future of Stanford men's rowing is bright," Amerkhanian noted.