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WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Stanford men’s rowing varsity four will have its shot at a national championship on the final day of the IRA National Championships.
In the second semifinal, the Cardinal four came away with the victory to advance to Sunday’s Grand Final. Stanford beat out Wisconsin by about two seconds, finishing with a time of 6:25.781. The Cardinal found success with a good start and then a consistent, steady row.
“We got off to a better start today than we did yesterday,” said sophomore Erik Holmvik. “Our focus was on getting off the line quick. We were then able to get into a rhythm.”
Stanford took the lead early and held it throughout the middle 1,000 meters of the race. Wisconsin really pushed them at the end, but the Cardinal had too big of a lead from a strong performance early on.
Now Stanford will race in a Grand Final at 10:20 a.m. ET. It will be the first time in a Grand Final since 2012 when the 2V8 placed sixth. The last time the four was in the Grand Final was 2011 when it finished fifth. The Cardinal will look for its third title in the varsity four event, winning it back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006.
“It is excellent to have this opportunity and we are all very excited for tomorrow,” said Holmvik. “This isn’t just for us. We are also excited to represent the program.”
The empacher being used by the Stanford varsity four has some championship experience. Since being donated by the Evans family, the Cardinal has won the Head of the Charles twice in that boat.
“I am thankful that our guys get to use such great equipment thanks to the donations like that of the Evans family,” said head coach Craig Amerkhanian. “These guys in the four will have a shot at making the varsity eight next year and hopefully this performance will do great things for them. Assistant coach Jason Hilton and volunteer assistant Will Robins have done a fantastic job coaching this boat.”
Stanford also raced in the varsity eight C/D semifinal on Saturday. Needing a top-three finish to make the C Final, the Cardinal did just that with a third place time of 5:45.770. Finishing ahead of Stanford was Hobart and FIT.
The C final will take place tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. ET.
