Beavers Advance to Finals at IRA's
CAMDEN, N.J. – The Oregon State Freshman 4+ crew continued their impressive run at the IRA Championships by advancing to the Grand Final in the racing on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. on Friday, June 6.
The F4+ was the first crew to hit the water for the Beavers Friday morning in their 'A' Semifinal. While the crew from Washington established itself as the fastest of the six boats in the heat by going out an early lead, the Beavers found themselves in a group with crews from Drexel, Harvard and Colgate in a tight race for Sunday’s Grand Final. Although the Orange and Black could not overtake Drexel's boat, the Beavers found themselves in front of Harvard by 1.442 seconds.
“Today was their first real run as a 4+ in a full, six-boat race,” said Oregon State head coach Steve Todd of the freshman crew. “They are still learning, but they came through today and hopefully they can carry that over to the finals.”
The third place finish gives the Beavers' F4+ an opportunity to race against the toughest crews at the IRAs when they pull one final time in tomorrow's Grand Final scheduled to begin 7:02 a.m. PST.
OSU’s Varsity 8+ came back from a disappointing second race on Thursday by winning the 'C' Semifinal against some familiar opponents. No. 20 Dartmouth started off the race with a fast 500 meters to take the early lead. The No. 14 Beavers used a strong second 1000 meters to not only hold off the surging No. 13 Syracuse crew, but also to overtake Dartmouth with 800 meters left in the race. The three crews were bow-to-bow at the finish, but it was the Beavers who recorded the 0.437-second victory. The top-three finish sends the Beavers V8+ to the third level final, to be raced at 10:27 a.m. PST.
“The Varsity crew has been working on executing a strong second thousand meters for a while now and it was good to see us put it together today,” said Coach Todd of his V8+. “Now we have to be able to repeat that performance tomorrow morning.”
The results for the OSU's Junior Varsity 8+ were not as thrilling as the Beavers were unable to overtake the competition and at the end of the day found themselves with an invitation to the Petite Final. The Beavers were hard pressed to make up ground on the top four crews in the heat, all of whom were within two seconds of each other. Oregon State’s JV8+ will race again in the Junior Varsity Petite Final, scheduled for 9:54 a.m. PST on Saturday.
For live results for the IRA Championships, log on to .
Results
Varsity 8+ C Semifinal
1. Oregon State 5:47.931
2. Syracuse
3. Dartmouth 5:51.162
4. Georgetown 5:53.313
5. Colgate 5:56.720
6. Holy Cross 6:05.014
Junior Varsity 8+ A Semifinal
1. Washington
2. Brown 5:45.218
3. Orange Coast 5:46.773
4. Cornell 5:46.775
5. Harvard 5:53.523
6. Oregon State 6:04.514
Freshman 4+ A Semifinal
1. Washington
2. Drexel 6:49.887
3. Oregon State 6:50.220
4. Harvard 6:51.362
5. Colgate 6:51.501
6. Princeton 7:01.226
