Cal Men’s Crew takes 5th at the IRA national championship

Unable to find the magic formula, Cal Men’s Crew comes away from the 2017 IRA national championships without any individual national title or the all important Varsity 8 national title. The Varsity 8 boat was never really in the challenge for the win as the Bears could not keep up with leader Yale or the favorite Washington. Bears finished 5th behind Yale (a surprise winner but congrats to former Cal head coach Steve Gladstone), Washington, Harvard, and Princeton.

Washington claimed the national title in all 3 other races. Bears just edged Princeton in the 2V8 for 2nd place, but finished behind Washington and Harvard in the 3V8. In V4, the Bears could not catch winner Washington who lead the entire way.

There are some prestigious races in UK for members of the Cal Crew to compete in during the summer, but this IRA Championships effectively end the official 2016-2017 season.

ROW ON YOU BEARS!

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As expected from my preview, all 4 Cal Men’s Crew boats are going to be racing for individual national championships on Sunday in the final day of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship. All 4 Cal boats advanced to Sunday’s grand finals without having to go through the Friday afternoon repechage; so they will be fresh with only two races so far this weekend. The most important race will be the Varsity 8 grand final as the winner of that race will be crowned the men’s crew “national champions”. As expected, all 4 of Washington’s boats will also make the grand finals as the two schools will also vie for the Ten Eyck Trophy for the combined team score.

In the Varsity 8 grand final, Golden Bears’ new reshuffled roster was not the fastest at the semifinal. Bears placed 2nd behind Harvard in its 2nd semifinal. Cal’s time was also behind that of Washington and Princeton in the 1st semifinal (though the wind condition could have changed).

Here is the lineup for Sunday’s Varsity 8 Grand Final:

1 PRINCETON

2 YALE

3 HARVARD

4 WASHINGTON

5 CALIFORNIA

6 BROWN

In the 2nd Varsity 8, Golden Bears had a great come from behind win over Yale to win its semifinal.

Here is the lineup for Sunday’s 2nd Varsity 8 Grand Final:

1 BU

2 YALE

3 WASHINGTON

4 CALIFORNIA

5 HARVARD

6 PRINCETON

In the 3rd Varsity 8 semifinal, Golden Bears were leading rival Washington Huskies until the very end. They will get the chance for revenge on Sunday.

Here is the lineup for Sunday’s 3rd Varsity 8 Grand Final:

1 NAVY

2 YALE

3 WASHINGTON

4 HARVARD

5 CALIFORNIA

6 PRINCETON

In the Varsity 4 (3 of the 4 rowers are from the Pac-12 winning Freshman 8 boat), Cal also won its semifinal to be the top seed for the grand final (in lane 4).

Here is the lineup for Sunday’s Varsity 4 Grand Final:

1 BROWN

2 BU

3 WASHINGTON

4 CALIFORNIA

5 PRINCETON

6 MARIETTA

Cal, Washington, and Princeton are the only schools with all 4 boats in the grand finals. Harvard and Yale also have all 3 V8 boats in the grand finals.

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Barring no bad weather in the forecast (fortunately, this year’s race is in California rather than New Jersey), this will be the schedule for Sunday.

Sunday, June 4 – Grand Finals

9:30 a.m. – Fours – Grand Final

11:00 a.m. – III Eights – Grand Final

11:20 a.m. – II Eights – Grand Final

12:30 p.m. – I Eights – Grand Final

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2017 IRA Championships Grand Finals

Where: Lake Natoma (Sacramento, CA)

When: June 4th

Stats: IRA

Live free online stream: US Rowing YouTube

ROW ON YOU BEARS!