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Varsity 4+ Advances To Top IRA Semifinal
June 1, 2006
CAMDEN, NJ - The Gonzaga University men's Varsity 4+ placed itself in position for another top finish at the IRA National Championships after the Bulldogs advanced to the top semifinal heat with a win during Thursday's heat races on Cooper River in Camden, NJ. The Bulldogs also entered a Freshman 8+ that will compete in the third/fourth semifinal on Friday. The men's Varsity 4+ won their heat race in convincing fashion with a nine-second margin over second place Pennsylvania. Gonzaga pulled a time of 6:33.53 with Penn second at 6:42.25. MIT was third four seconds behind Penn with Saint Joseph's and Syracuse rounding out the field. The Bulldogs time was the fifth fastest of the day and placed Gonzaga in one of the top semifinals on Friday morning. Gonzaga finished seventh at last year's IRA championships in the Varsity 4+ race. Penn also advanced to the top semifinals. Other boats that advanced to Friday's semifinals from the morning heat races were California, Stanford and Wisconsin. Gonzaga's semifinal field will include Temple, Rutgers, Oregon State, Stanford and Harvard. The Bulldogs are seeded No. 2 in their semifinal race. The top three boats from Friday's semifinal advance to Saturday's Grand Final and a chance to win a national championship. Gonzaga's Freshman 8+ was not as successful competing in two races on Thursday. GU placed fifth in its morning heat race with a time of 6:11.98. Washington won the Bulldogs heat race with a mark of 6:43.83. Princeton, Cornell and Saint Joseph's crossed in positions 2-4 while George Washington was sixth. The Bulldogs had one more shot at advancing to a top semifinal on Thursday afternoon but placed third in their afternoon race. The afternoon piece was won by Boston University with MIT second. Gonzaga rowed a time of 6:11.73 to finish third with Ohio State coming in fourth. Boston University won with a time of 6:03.7. The Freshman 8+ will now race in a third/fourth semifinal on Friday looking for a spot in Saturday's Third Final. This is the first time that Gonzaga has advanced a Freshman 8+ to the IRA championships.
IRA National Championships Varsity 4+ Heat Race Freshman 8+ Heat Race Freshman 8+ Rep Race |
