June 4, 2011

IRA Championships Results

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Stanford men's rowing completed a weekend at the IRA Championships with a fifth-place national finish from the Four, while the I Eight took eighth overall and the Frosh Eight ninth.

"After yesterday's max effort in the semis we saw the men dig deep and find their collective iron will today," said Stanford men's rowing head coach Craig Amerkhanian. "The four raced with passion to earn fifth in the nation. The men's frosh eight again raced well to finish ninth while the varsity eight ended the IRA with a number eight in the nation finish."

The Four performed well in a highly-spirited Grand Final Saturday, as only five and a half seconds separated the first- and fifth-place boats.

The Cardinal battled its way through the course with the lead pack. In the end, it was Washington which claimed the Four title with a final time of 6:19.045, with the Cardinal in fifth with a time of 6:24.474. Stanford just missed a top-three finish by 1.435 seconds behind Drexel, and was just .071 of a second behind Navy for fourth.

In another tightly-contested race, the I Eight took second in its petite final and eighth overall in a race that had the top four boats separated by just 1.743 seconds. The Cardinal finished the race in 5:42.892, just under a second and a half behind Cornell, and less than half a second ahead of Syracuse and Yale.

The Frosh Eight, meanwhile, took third in its petite final for a ninth-place national finish. The Cardinal crossed the line with a time of 5:52.321, five and a half seconds behind Navy and just under a second back of Cornell.

"This was a great regatta for the Stanford men, our lightweight women national champions and the Pac-10 Conference. Our student athletes were simply outstanding," Amerkhanian noted.