Wisconsin men’s rowing wraps up Day 2 of IRA national championships

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Wisconsin men’s rowing wraps up Day 2 of IRA national championships

June 03, 2017 | Men's Rowing

Three of four boats will race in Sunday petite finals

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AFTERNOON

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SATURDAY REPLAY

| SUNDAY

RESULTS | IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The No. 12 Wisconsin men's rowing team will have three crews in Sunday's petite finals, and a fourth in a third-level final as the second day of the 2017 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships concluded on Lake Natoma on Saturday.

The varsity eight, third varsity eight and varsity four all raced in semifinals on Saturday, and each ended up either fifth or sixth and so will race tomorrow in petite finals for places 7-12 (the varsity eight will be for places 7-13).

Wisconsin's fourth entry, its second varsity eight, raced and won its C/D semifinal to reach the third-level final for places 13-18 on Sunday.

VARSITY EIGHT
Racing in the second semifinal of the varsity eight, the Badgers got off the line in a muddled mix for third, with California and Harvard grabbing the top two spots early.

By 1000 meters, the Badgers sat in seventh, with Northeastern and Brown battling it out for the third and final qualifying spot for the Grand Final. Harvard drew even with leader California.

Then with 500 meters left, Harvard grabbed a comfortable two-thirds of a boat-length lead, and Brown grabbed hold of the third spot. The Badgers by then had also moved up one spot into sixth place ahead of Boston University.

That would be the finishing order, with Harvard winning in 5:38.375 and California second in 5:39.651. Brown (5:40.226) took the final Grand Final qualifying spot, while Syracuse (5:44.149), Northeastern (5:45.918), Wisconsin (5:48.004) and Boston University (5:49.117) rounded out the finishers.

"I thought we were great in the body of the race," head coach Chris Clark said. "Didn't quite have the spark on the front end, though, to get out with the leaders. At one point we were trailing in seventh, but they maintained. There was only one other boat that rowed twice already like we did and that was BU. We hadn't seen BU in a while and we rowed them down and beat them.

"It is great to see the boat back to normal. By normal, I don't mean that we are contending to win. It is one step at a time. It is back to guys who can row with poise and learn as they go. Hopefully we get a little better each time, which is exactly what they did.

The Badgers will finish up their season racing in the petite final for places 7-13. The competition for those spots will include Cornell, Dartmouth, Syracuse, Northeastern, Pennsylvania and Boston University.

"Guys are excited about tomorrow," Clark said. "They will now have over 24 hours of rest so that should mitigate some of that extra tiredness (from their three races).

"There are a lot of bruisers here, but our boat is light. We probably average 6-5 and 190 pounds, which is light. They are still learning, but that is a big advantage as far as speed and quickness. They haven't utilized it yet. Maybe we can in the second final."

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
After slow starts on Friday may have prevented the Badgers from reaching the semifinals, Wisconsin got off the line better on Saturday in its C/D semifinal and had them co-leading with Columbia early in the race.

Slightly behind at 500 meters, the Badgers took the lead by 900 meters and were up three seats on Columbia by 1250 meters. UW went on to win the C/D semi and reach Sunday's third-level final.

Wisconsin won in 5:57.773, with Columbia second in 5:58.745 and Syracuse in the third and final third-level final qualifying spot in 5:59.371.

"The 2V, which had a big disappointment yesterday, stepped up and did exactly what they had to do," Clark said. "They won their C/D semi so they will race in the third level for 13-18."

THIRD VARSITY EIGHT
The Badgers were down early, sitting in fifth place off the start line and by the 500-meter mark. California, Princeton, Washington and Boston University all got a jump out ahead of the Badgers.

By 500 meters, it was California, then Washington, Princeton, BU, Wisconsin and Syracuse.

Washington eventually rowed past California into first around the 1200-meter mark, but the rest of the places held the same the rest of the way and Wisconsin ended up in fifth.

Washington won in 5:45.849, with California second in 5:47.591 and Princeton in the third Grand Final qualifying spot in 5:50.135. The Badgers crossed the 2000-meter finish in 5:59.938.

"The 3V8 got stuck in by far the hardest semi and were fifth," Clark stated. I thought it was great though. That boat is just packed with young guys who said they don't know what they are doing. That is not too much of an exaggeration at this level, especially with the freshmen in there."

VARSITY FOUR
The varsity four got off the line in a battle with Marietta for third place behind California and Princeton.

By the 1000-meter mark, California already had a boat-length lead over Princeton, who was three-quarters of a length up on Marietta. Wisconsin was still in the mix, a deck down for third.

However by 1500 meters, the Badgers had dropped to three-quarters of a length down on Marietta and had Harvard two seats down and closing.

By the finish, Harvard rowed past the Badgers into fourth place.

Cal won in 6:19.618, with Princeton (6:21.983) and Marietta (6:24.831) advancing to Sunday's Grand Final. Fourth-place Harvard (6:26.846), as well as Wisconsin (6:30.070) and MIT (6:36.883) will race in the petite final for places 7-12.

"The four, they had it, but couldn't finish it," Clark said. "All young guys too, so hopefully they learn from there."

SUNDAY FINALS
Wisconsin returns to the water Sunday at 11:20 a.m. (CT) for the varsity four petite final. The second varsity eight third-level final follows at 12:20 p.m., while the third varsity eight petite final goes off at 1:50 p.m. and the varsity eight petite final closes out the day for the Badgers at 2:15 p.m.

"This is the first time since 2012 we've had a clear first eight for most of the season," Clark concluded. "It is finally lining up the way it is supposed to, which is a clear first eight, second eight. It could be a little muddled in some of the other boats. That is how a program is built.

"This is finally normal. From here we can build. The next few years should be pretty exciting."

2017 IRA National Championships
Gold River, Calif.
Lake Natoma
June 3, 2017
2000 meters

VARSITY EIGHT
Semifinal 2 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to petite final)
1. Harvard, 5:38.375; 2. California, 5:39.651; 3. Brown, 5:40.226; 4. Syracuse, 5:44.149; 5. Northeastern, 5:45.918; 6. Wisconsin, 5:48.004; 7. Boston University, 5:49.117

UW Lineup – Coxswain James Roen, Nickolas Montalvo, Laing Wise, Andrew Griffin, Jonah Van der Weide, Tristan Amberger, James Bernard, Kyle McCarthy, Thomas Walker

SECOND VARSITY EIGHT
C/D Semifinal 1 (Top three to Sunday third-level final, rest to fourth-level final)
1. Wisconsin, 5:57.773; 2. Columbia, 5:58.745; 3. Syracuse, 5:59.371; 4. Drexel, 6:04.414; 5. St. Joseph's, 6:09.594; 6. Santa Clara, 6:11.204

UW Lineup – Coxswain Michael Callahan, John Hollow, Alexander Butler, Nathan Petersen, Sam Weeks, Andrew Flannery, James Lueken, Alex Idarraga, Erik Kernozek

THIRD VARSITY EIGHT
Semifinal 1 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to petite final)
1. Washington, 5:45.849; 2. California, 5:47.591; 3. Princeton, 5:50.135; 4. Boston University, 5:52.771; 5. Wisconsin, 5:59.938; 6. Syracuse, 6:04.940

UW Lineup – Coxswain Andrew Hamilton, Taylor Steeno, Tyler Stevens, William Alt, Dylan Adams, Kurt Mueller, Zach Ruedinger, Christoph Bub, Jacob Wenner

VARSITY FOUR
Semifinal 2 (Top three to Sunday Grand Final, rest to petite final)
1. California, 6:19.618; 2. Princeton, 6:21.983; 3. Marietta, 6:24.831; 4. Harvard, 6:26.846; 5. Wisconsin, 6:30.070; 6. MIT, 6:36.883

UW Lineup - Coxswain Theodore Van Beek, Cole Reavill, Evan Miller, Chase Covey, Tim Zogleman