WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The No. 1 Stanford lightweight rowing team has been building towards this moment all season long, the final regatta of the year, the IRA National Championships.
The Cardinal achieved the No. 1 ranking on April 1, the first poll released after the preseason rankings. An impressive win at the San Diego Crew Classic by the varsity eight vaulted them to the top spot. Stanford’s varsity eight later won the Lightweight Invitational on April 19, the last time they went up against some of the top lightweight teams in the country.
Since the Lightweight Invite, the Cardinal has raced mostly openweight squads at the WIRA Championships, Big Row and Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. Still the string of victories continued. Heading into this weekend the varsity eight remains undefeated in nine races.
One of the contributing factors to the victory total is the lineup has remained the same from the second weekend of the spring until the last race, totaling seven straight races with the same boat order.
Derek Byrnes is in his first year as the head coach of the program. He has them in prime position to make a run at the National Championship, but the road won’t be easy. No. 2 Harvard-Radcliffe edged out Stanford at the finish line for last year’s crown. They have another good crew this year, as does No. 3 Boston, No. 4 Princeton and No. 5 Wisconsin.
The 2015 season is also the first year that they will have a team trophy for the lightweights at the IRA National Championships. The result of the varsity eight and varsity four will factor in to team points.
The varsity eight will be in the first race of the day on Saturday at 8 a.m. They are in the first of two heats along with No. 9 Tulsa, No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 4 Princeton and No. 8 Villanova.
Last season the varsity four took second at the IRA Championships. The 2015 boat will race in the first of two heats at 8:24 a.m. on Saturday. Along with the Cardinal the heat features Wisconsin, Boston and Harvard-Radcliffe.
The only time this season Stanford has raced a four was two weeks ago at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. The boat competing at the IRA’s finished fourth.
For the first time in school history, Stanford will also field a double at the national championships. Rowing in the 2x will be a pair of freshmen, Hannah Levy and Isabelle Foster.
Live Video
Fans can watch the races live at http://d3cast.com/rowing/
Live Results
Results will be posted at http://ira.qra.org/ and tweeted on the account @ECACRowing