Freshmen Shine During Day Two of IRAs, Reach Grand Final
CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- The Freshman 4+ qualified for the Grand Final in dramatic fashion at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on the Cooper River with a third place finish in its semifinal heat race, edging out Navy by half a second for the last Grand Final spot. Both the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ qualified for the Petite Final each finishing sixth in their respective semifinal races. The freshmen got out to a strong start, but fell back to fifth through the first 500 meters. The Beavers’ rookies battled for the fourth and fifth positions as they slowly closed the gap with 500 meters to go. With OSU solidly in fourth, freshman coxswain, Ian Hunnicutte, called for a sprint and his crew responded outracing the Midshipmen to the wire to claim their spot in tomorrow’s Grand Final. “The freshman raced a superb race,” said assistant coach Dave Friedericks. “In the last 250 meters they basically said ‘it’s now or never’ and just put together an all out sprint to nip Navy. It was very exciting, a little too exciting for me, but I couldn’t be more happy.” For the second day in a row, the No. 17 ranked V8+ was racing a field loaded with top 10 opponents including: No. 2 ranked Harvard, No. 3 California, No. 4 Yale, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 7 Brown. The Beavers just couldn’t overcome their opponents’ strength and came in with a sixth place finish and a trip to the Petite Final. “We expected a tough field against five of the higher ranked crews and that is exactly what we got,” said head coach Steve Todd. “Three of the crews were medalists at the EARC Eastern Sprints, Brown was fifth and An inexperienced V4+ boat having a hard time adjusting to a new race format at IRA’s for the V4+ boats turned in a sixth place finish in their semifinal race that qualified them for the Petite Final. “This was our first 2,000 meter race against other crews due to the new formatting,” said Friedericks. “It didn’t allow us to have our same preparation. This boat is a little inexperienced and it has taken them a little longer to get their bearings. The guys weren’t pleased with their race, but we just have to put that behind us and prepare for tomorrow and do the best we can in the petite. Going for seventh through twelfth place in the nation isn’t bad. We’re excited to see what we can do.” The IRA Championships will conclude tomorrow with the finals races. OSU racing begins at 7:02 a.m. for the F4+ Grand Final. The V4+ will race at 7:38 and the V8+ will finish the regatta for the Beavers at 10:45. *results are unofficial, official results will be posted when available
F4+ Semi-Final 1 California 06:29.3 2 Boston U. 06:36.6 3 Oregon St 06:39.1 4 Navy 06:39.6 5 Grand Valley 06:41.4 6 GW Univ. 06:49.5 V8+ Semi-Final California 05:32.5 2 Harvard 05:32.8 3 Brown 05:33.8 4 Yale 05:33.9 5 Wisconsin 05:36.3 6 Oregon St 05:55.0 V4+ Semi-Final Temple 06:19.5 2 Gonzaga 06:22.9 3 UCLA 06:24.4 4 Colgate 06:25.3 5 MIT 06:25.7 6 Oregon St 06:34.1
