May 31, 2012
IRA Results | IRA Championships Central | IRA Schedule
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Stanford's men's II Eight qualified for Friday's semifinal round at the IRA Championships, highlighting the Cardinal boats in action Thursday on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The II Eight, which earned one of the final semifinal spots through the afternoon repechage, will race in one of the two semifinal heats for its class Friday. The heats take place at 8:45 a.m. and 9 a.m. PT.
Stanford's I Eight and Frosh Eight boats each came up just short of qualifying for their respective semifinals, and will row in Saturday's Third Finals.
"The Stanford men raced well in tough conditions and varied lane advantages," said Stanford men's rowing head coach Craig Amerkhanian. "We missed the semifinals by six-tenths of a second. I am so proud of the efforts of our men. The varsity and frosh eights raced to win. Our 2V did advance and has a chance to be the first 2V in Stanford Men's Rowing history to make the grand final tomorrow."
The II Eight opened its day with a fourth-place finish in its qualifying heat, crossing the line in 6:11.896. Yet the Cardinal bounced back in the afternoon, holding off Dartmouth for third place and the final semifinal berth by nearly 1.7 seconds.
The ninth-ranked I Eight was the first on the water Thursday, finishing fifth in its qualifying heat with a time of 6:07.872. The finish forced the Cardinal into the afternoon's repechage for a final chance to qualify for the semifinals. No. 3 Harvard (5:50.056) and No. 10 Boston University (5:51.039) were the top two finishers in the heat.
Stanford would need a top-three finish in the repechage heat to reach the semifinals. However the Cardinal was squeezed out of the top three in a race in which the top five boats were separated by just 2.693 seconds. Stanford would finish fourth in 5:41.269, less than a second behind second-place Syracuse (5:40.468) and Yale (5:40.655).
The I Eight will row in Saturday's Third Final at 8:15 a.m. PT against Dartmouth, Drexel, George Washington, Gonzaga and Northeastern.
The Frosh Eight, like the I and II Eights, failed to qualify for the semifinals in its opening heat, crossing the line in 6:12.474 for fifth place. In the afternoon repechage, the Frosh boat suffered the same fate as the I Eight, being edged out of a semifinal berth by less than a second in a close race.
Only 3.054 seconds separated the first through fourth-place boats in the repechage heat, but Stanford's time of 5:54.229 came up just 0.355 of a second behind Dartmouth for the third and final semifinal spot from the group.
The Frosh Eight will now take part in the Third Final Saturday at 6:25 a.m. PT against Drexel, George Washington, Gonzaga, Pennsylvania and Syracuse.