No. 14 Beavers head to IRA Championships
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 14 Oregon State crew returns to the water for the final times this season as they travel across the country to Camden, N.J. to race in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships that will be held Thursday, June 5, to Saturday, June 7, on the Cooper River.
The selection marks the 14th time that the Beavers have had the opportunity to race for a national championship. Oregon State seeks to improve on a 10th place finish by the Varsity 8+ at last year’s championship regatta. OSU’s Freshman 8+ will also try to live up to the 5th place finish of a year ago.
In 2008, the Beavers have rowed against several of the top crews they could face at the IRA regatta including Pac-10 rivals No. 1 Washington, No. 5 California and No. 8 Stanford, as well as non-conference foes No. 11 Harvard, No. 13 Syracuse, No. 19 Purdue, Colgate, and Pennsylvania.
In heat racing, Oregon State is scheduled to race against No. 3 Brown and No. 6 Yale as well as Harvard, Purdue, and Colgate at 4:48 a.m. PST.
The Beavers aim to finish in the top two in their heat to earn a spot in the semifinals, which are scheduled for 12 p.m. PST on Friday, June 4. OSU could still reach the semifinals by way of Friday afternoon repechages, which are scheduled between 1:45 and 3:30 p.m. PST.
"The racing is going to be hard, and the guys will have to step up to succeed," said Oregon State head coach Steve Todd. "But that's why we are here at the IRA Championships."
In addition to the V8+, the Beavers are entering a Junior Varsity 8+ as well as a F4+ crew in their respective divisions. The Oregon State JV8+ will face a 2008 opponent in Orange Coast College, as well as Big Ten crews from Wisconsin and Michigan. Princeton and Colgate round out the Beavers’ heat, which is scheduled to begin at 5:48 a.m. PST.
"We shook things up after the Pac-10's, looking for the right combination," said Coach Todd. "The Varsity and JV boats both had some changes that I think helped with boat speed. We get the chance this week to test that out."
Oregon State’s F4+ begins its weekend by racing in a time trial that will begin at 9:30 a.m. By finishing in the top 12 of the 24 crews competing, the Beavers an advance to a second qualifying heat which will place them in either the grand or petite finals, which are scheduled for Sunday, June 7.
For updated results from Camden, N.J. log on to www.row2k.com.
Rosters
Junior Varsity 8+
Freshman 4+
Varsity 8+
Cox: Jeff Halleck
5: Dan Armitage
Cox: John Wainwright
6: Brian McShane
5: Justin Wagner
4: Todd West
B: Evan Carey
Cox: Mike Luecker
3: Evan Peterson
2: Rob Hannah
B: Joe Wainwright
