Men's Crews Race to Top 10 Finishes - Oregon State University Athletics

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- The Oregon State Men’s Varsity 8+, ranked 17th at the beginning of the week, finished in the top 10 at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships for the fifth time in six years. OSU's Varsity 4+ and Freshman 4+ also earned top 10 finishes on the final day of the IRA Championships on the Cooper River near Camden, N.J.

As a whole, OSU's crews put forth a solid day of racing with the F4+ leading the way with a fifth place finish while the V8+ and V4+ each wound up in tenth place.

In the F4+ Grand Final, California asserted itself as the top crew breaking away from the pack. The rest of the field was tightly packed with Yale finishing second followed by Boston U., Princeton, Oregon State and Harvard in respective order.

“The freshman got us started well today in the Grand Final,” said head coach Steve Todd. “We had a great start and a very solid race. It was a very competitive field of boats. We had a fought hard with Princeton through most of the race and just came up a little short of them for the fourth spot, but I feel they executed a very solid race. They got a lot of experience this week and I look for that to carry well into the varsity in the coming years.”

For third time in three days, the V8+ competed in yet another very strong field in the Petite Final. No. 11 Cornell won the race followed by sixth-ranked Wisconsin and No. 4 Yale. OSU finished in fourth place, No. 15 Northeastern and No. 10 Michigan to round out the field.

“I’m very proud of the varsity guys today,” said Todd. “Getting a top 10 finish after coming in unseeded is a great accomplishment. It really makes a statement about the competitiveness of our program.

“There was a real battle between (OSU), Michigan and Northeastern. We got a good jump in the first 500 meters. The guys executed the race plan to a T. They did everything they were supposed to do and I am very satisfied with our today's outcome.”

The V4+ also faced a strong field in the Petite Final finishing in fourth place (tenth overall), ahead of Colgate and Boston. Massachusetts came in first followed by MIT and Puget Sound.

“The varsity 4+ had a very tough field with some very good crews. The field had some of the other school’s top four rowers. Finishing in the top 10 is a good accomplishment. I feel they raced the best piece they could have.”

Over the past 13 seasons at the IRA Championships, the Beaver’s V8+ boat has finished in the top ten, on ten occasions.

Freshman 4+ Grand Final
1	California	06:29.0
2	Yale	06:34.6
3	Boston U.	06:37.6
4	Princeton	06:38.9
5	Oregon St	06:40.3
6	Harvard	06:43.0

Varsity 8+ Petite Final
1	Cornell	05:41.0
2	Wisconsin	05:41.2
3	Yale	05:42.1
4	Oregon St	05:46.1
5	Northeastern	05:47.2
6	Michigan	05:51.8

Varsity 4+ Petite Final
1	UMass	06:32.3
2	MIT	06:32.9
3	Puget Sound	06:33.8
4	Oregon St	06:34.0
5	Colgate	06:36.7
6	Boston U.	06:41.8