UW Wins All Four Heats On First Day Of IRA Regatta

Friday, May 31

Gold River, CA

All Day

University of Washington

IRA National Championships

UW men's varsity 8 at IRAs, May 31, 2019

May 31, 2019 | Men's Rowing

UW's IRA Heats Results IRA Lineups Full Results/Schedule Saturday Live Video

GOLD RIVER, Calif. –Washington's No. 2-ranked men's rowing team won all four of its heats Friday morning on the first day of the 117th Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships at Lake Natoma.

With its four wire-to-wire victories, the Huskies earned a direct berth in the A/B semifinal in each of the four race categories: the first, second and third varsity eights, and the varsity four. The Huskies are the IRA's top seed in the 2V8+ and 3V8+ and the No. 2 seed in the V8+ (varsity four is not seeded). The fields for the semifinals will be completed after repechages Friday afternoon.

"Blue skies, flat water – it's great to be back on the West Coast for national championship racing!" UW men's coach Michael Callahan said. "The only hiccup was finding a baby rattlesnake under our 3V shell, the Carl Lovsted today.

"The team executed efficiently and everything went to plan today," he added. "The racing only gets more intense and challenging from here on in. Our guys are up for it."

In the Huskies' first race of the morning, the second heat for the varsity eights, Washington got off to the lead immediately out of starting dock and held it throughout. At around the halfway point, Northeastern, the next-highest seed in that heat, started to make a move, but UW answered and by the last few hundred meters were able to cruise to the victory with about a length of open water separating the Huskies from the Northeastern boat.

Washington's time of 5:35.003 was the fastest of the four men's varsity eight heats, but in all four, the top boat had a comfortable lead and wasn't required to maintain a high rate all the way through to the finish. The other top-seeded crews vying for the national championship in the varsity eight each held serve as No. 1 Yale and co-No. 3s California and Harvard came out on top in their heats.

The second varsity eight heat was similar as Washington established a big lead over the rest of the field and, secure in victory and advancement to the semifinal, coasted through the final portion of the race. The Husky 2V won its heat in a time of 5:47.446, about seven seats in front of Boston University.

It was more of the same in the men's third varsity eight as well. Washington established a big lead early on and needed only to stay in front while Dartmouth and Northeastern battled for the second spot and the direct path to the A/B semi. Northeastern's sprint left Dartmouth in third place and ate up some of the UW's lead, but the Huskies still won the heat by a full length and a time of 5:47.318.

The Huskies' final race of the morning was the varsity four, with only the winning crew moving through to the A/B semifinal (in all of the eights races, the top two teams advanced). Washington again led the entire way, though Harvard battled them in the early going. After the midway point, the Huskies asserted their advantage and left the rest of the pack behind. Holy Cross moved into clear second-place position, but never threatened the UW four. Washington won by a little less than a full length of open water, with a time of 6:30.248.

Saturday, the Huskies will race in A/B semifinals in all four boats. A top-three finish in each will earn the UW a spot in Sunday's grand finals. Here's the schedule for Saturday's semifinals:

8:48 a.m. – Varsity 8+ A/B semifinals (Harvard, UW, Boston U, Princeton, Syracuse, Dartmouth)
9:00 a.m. – Second Varsity 8+ A/B semifinals (California, UW, Dartmouth, Princeton, Cornell, Syracuse)
9:24 a.m. – Third Varsity 8+ A/B semifinals (Princeton, UW, Boston U, California, Navy, Dartmouth)
10:30 a.m. – Varsity 4+ A/B semifinals (UW, Stetson, Boston U, MIT, Marist, Navy)

Saturday Coverage:
Live Timing
Live Video

WASHINGTON IRA LINEUPS

Varsity Eight
Shell:Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis./West)
7: Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./Citrus)
6: Samuel Halbert (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville)
5: Madison Molitor (Moses Lake, Wash./Moses Lake)
4: Simon van Dorp (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
3: Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./Brewster Academy)
2: Harvey Kay (Nottingham, U.K.)
Bow: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)

Second Varsity Eight
Shell:Grand Challenger
Cox: Kimmons Wilson (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Stroke: Elijah Maesner (Duvall, Wash./Eastlake)
7: Peter Lancashire (Port Macquarie, Australia)
6: Michiel Mantel (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
5: Tennyson Federspiel (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
4: David Bridges (Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
3: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, Netherlands)
2: Philipp Nonnast (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth, Australia)

Third Varsity Eight
Shell:Carl Lovsted
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Stroke: Max Rennie (Deniniquin, Australia)
7: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
6: Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./Bothell)
5: Paolo Bifulco (Portland, Ore./Lincoln)
4: Felix Reinhold (Cape Town, South Africa)
3: Nick Everett (Brockville, Ont., Canada)
2: Pau Turina (Portland Ore./Benson Tech)
Bow: Ian Engstrom (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)

Varsity Four
Shell:Lou Gellermann
Stroke: Cole Zwierzynski (Portland, Ore./Franklin)
3: Alexander Vollmer (Hamburg, Germany)
2: Carsten Rossen (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland)
Bow: Elliott de Bruin (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell)
Cox: Isabel Klein (Seattle, Wash./University Prep)