CAMDEN, N.J. – The No. 1 California men's rowing team faced no problems on the opening day of the IRA Championships at Cooper River as all three varsity 8+ boats won their opening heats and advanced to Saturday's AB semifinals. Additionally, the varsity 4+ finished with the second fastest time in the time trials to advance to the ABC semifinal, where it won its race later Friday afternoon to move on to Saturday's grand final.
 
Cal and Penn jumped ahead quickly to form the lead pack after the first 10 strokes in the V8+ heat. The Bears made quick work and took a boat-length lead over Penn and Brown in first position by the 250-meter mark and built an open-water lead by the halfway point. Cal easily won in a time of 05:32.650 – the second fastest time of the day.
 
In the 2V8+ heat, Cal took a slight lead over Yale and Stanford after the first 15 strokes. The Bears took a half-boat lead over the Bulldogs in first position after the halfway point. Cal maintained that advantage through the third 500 meters and made a push over the final 500 meters to pull away by open water and cruise to the win in a time of 5:40.360.
 
In the 3V8+ heat, Cal took a four-seat lead after the first 250 meters over Dartmouth to lead the pack early on. Dartmouth stayed within two to three seats through the first 1,500 meters until the Bears made a move and pushed ahead by a half boat in the closing 500 meters to win in a time of 5:38.360.
 
Cal gained a quick three-seat lead over Saint Joseph's and Stetson in the V4+ ABC semifinal to lead the pack after the first 15 strokes. The Bears then built an open-water lead over the rest of the field by the 1,000-meter mark and cruised to the win in a time of 6:21.070.
 
The top three finishers in each of the eights' AB semifinals on Saturday will advance to Sunday's grand finals with the remaining teams competing in the petite finals.
 
Saturday's races will be streamed on www.overnght.com and results will be posted on www.regattatiming.com.
 
Friday Results
V8+
1. Cal – 5:32.650
2. Penn – 5:34.360
3. Brown – 5:34.620
4. La Salle – 5:45.860
5. Temple – 5:51.550
6. MIT – 6:01.460
 
2V8+
1. Cal – 5:40.360
2. Yale – 5:43.970
3. Stanford – 5:49. 190
4. Navy – 5:57. 420
5. Temple – 5:59.320
6. Gonzaga – 6:06.840
 
3V8+
1. Cal – 5:38.360
2. Dartmouth – 5:40.780
3. Brown – 5:48.060
4. Holy Cross – 6:04.570
5. Temple – 6:12.390
 
V4+ AB Semifinal
1. California - 06:21.070
2. Brown - 06:23.350
3. St. Josephs - 06:24.050
4. San Diego - 06:24.710
5. Marist - 06:30.230
6. Stetson - 06:36.860
 
Saturday Schedule (all times PT)
9:32 a.m. – V8+ AB Semifinal 1
Lane assignments: Stanford, Princeton, California, Harvard, Northeastern, Syracuse
 
9:56 a.m. – 2V8+ AB Semifinal 2
Lane assignments: Penn, Syracuse, Princeton, California, Brown, Boston
 
10:04 a.m. – 3V8+ AB Semifinal 1
Lane assignments: Boston, Princeton, Washington, California, Penn, Brown
 
12:20 p.m. – V4+ Grand Final
Lane assignments: Penn, Brown, Washington, California, Harvard, Syracuse
 
Lineups
V8+
Coxswain: Iliad Izadi
8. Frederik Breuer
7. Angus Dawson
6. Tobias Kristensen
5. Tim Roth
4. Gennaro di Mauro
3. Harry Manton
2. Noah Anger
1. Pablo Moreno
 
2V8+
Coxswain: Ethan Nghiem
8. Louis Nares
7. Wilson Morton
6. Alexander Baroni
5. Leonard Brahms
4. Xavier Gagnon
3. Jeremy Beale
2. Thomas Heerding
1. Robbie Prosser
 
3V8+
Coxswain: Jake Bazulto
8. Osian James
7. Nat Gauden
6. Rory Menzies
5. Johannes Benien
4. Evan Gold
3. Maximilian Pfautsch
2. Andreas Simoni
1. Matthew Waddell
 
V4+
Coxswain: Anna O'Reilly
4. Marcus Cameron
3. James O'Meara
2. Antonio Distefano
1. Nemanja Luledzija
 
STAY POSTED
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