SACRAMENTO – The No. 2 California men's rowing team won the varsity four IRA National Championship on day two of the regatta, while the Golden Bears' first through third varsity eights had successful AB Semifinal races to advance to Sunday's Grand Finals. The V4+ brought home the Eric W. Will Trophy for the sixth time in program history.
 
Cal's varsity four came off the blocks hot and jumped out to the front of the pack with Washington. Inches separated the crews at the first 500-meter checkpoint, but Cal began to move ahead in the second 500 meters to push out to a two-second lead over the Huskies at the midway point of the race. The Bears forged on in the third quarter of the race, creating more separation from the field to hit the 1500-meter mark three seconds faster than Pennsylvania, Harvard and Washington, who were duking it out for the runner-up position. Cal had total command of the race as the finish line grew near and the Bears coasted to a three-second margin of victory over Pennsylvania in second place, while Harvard outdistanced Washington to take bronze.
 
"I couldn't be prouder of this group," assistant coach Michael Chandler said. "They showed up all season with unparallelled positivity and confidence. Today's result is a testament to the 4V, 5V and 6V guys who push each other forward every day, and to the 150 years of Cal oarsmen who make moments like this possible."
 
In its AB Semifinal race, the varsity eight pulled out to a slight edge over Harvard off the blocks, but less than one second separated the two crews at the first 500-meter checkpoint. The Bears remained steady, beginning to inch further ahead of Harvard at the midway point. Cal broke away in the third 500 meters, pushing to a two-second advantage in the third quarter of the race. Harvard continued to push Cal as the finish-line approached but the Bears held onto the lead to win the race with a time of 5:36.950 – the fastest time of all the varsity eights on Saturday.
 
The 2V8+ semifinal was full of excitement with Yale pulling out to a substantial lead over the rest of the field from the jump. Cal and Washington duked it out for second place at the first split, with the Bears taking the slight edge at the 500-meter mark. Yale held onto its lead at the halfway point while the Huskies narrowly inched ahead of the Bears. Brown was on the heels of Cal and Washington to set up an eventful second half of the race. Washington overtook Yale to reach the 1500-meter mark first with Cal on the heels of Yale threatening to take the second position. The Bears overtook the Bulldogs and began chasing Washington in the final stretch of the race, while Brown made a move to challenge Yale's third-place position. There was overlap between the crews as the finish line approached and Washington kept its edge to win the race with Cal just over two seconds behind as the runner-up and Brown edging Yale by 0.2 seconds to clinch third place.
 
Cal and Princeton were nearly level through the first 500 meters of the 3V8+ semifinal race, with the Bears claiming the slight edge at the first checkpoint. The two crews battled it out through the middle half of the race with Princeton keeping a one-second advantage over Cal at the 1000 and 1500-meter marks. The Bears responded well in the final stretch of the race, taking control in the final 500 meters and placing its bow ball ahead of Princeton's as the final sprint ensued. Cal finished well to post a time of 5:47.310, less than a second ahead of the Tigers.
 
Sunday's races will begin at 9:46 a.m. PT for Cal. Fans can follow along via live results or watch the races live on Overnght.
 
Sunday Race Schedule (All times PT):
9:46 a.m. – 3V8+ Grand Final
11:08 a.m. – 2V8+ Grand Final
12:04 p.m. – V8+ Grand Final
 
RESULTS
V4+ Grand Final
1. California – 6:27.660
2. Penn – 6:30.610
3. Harvard – 6:31.180
4. Washington – 6:32.250
5. Princeton – 6:34.570
 
V8+
1. California – 5:36.950
2. Harvard – 5:37.910
3. Stanford – 5:41.770
4. Penn – 5:42.890
5. Brown – 5:45.950
6. Boston – 5:50.130
 
2V8+
1. Washington – 5:45.420
2. California – 5:47.480
3. Brown – 5:48.250
4. Yale – 5:48.270
5. Northeastern – 5:52.620
5. Cornell – 5:56.870
 
3V8+
1. California – 5:47.310
2. Princeton – 5:48.240
3. Brown – 5:49.110
4. Dartmouth – 5:49.180
5. Boston – 5:56.360
6. Stanford – 5:47.410
 
LINEUPS:
V8+
Coxswain: Michael Kain
8. Maximilian Pfautsch
7. Tobias Kristensen
6. Pablo Moreno
5. Alexander Baroni
4. Gennaro di Mauro
3. Noah Anger
2. Nemanja Luledzija
1. Tom O'Sullivan
 
2V8+
Coxswain: Ethan Nghiem
8. Leo Rosenquist
7. Eddie Bayfield
6. Osian James
5. Rory Menzies
4. Xavier Gagnon
3. Josh Knight
2. Tim Roth
1. Matthew Waddell
 
3V8+
Coxswain: Austin Chen
8. Mihajlo Dedic
7. Flynn English
6. Dan Bradbery
5. Nat Gauden
4. Evan Gold
3. Jeremy Beale
2. Thomas Heerding
1. James O'Meara
 
V4+
Coxswain: Mackenzie Fox
4. Chris Weiss
3. William McClean
2. Leo Shetler
1. Charlie Warren
 
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's rowing, follow the Bears on X (@CalMrowing), Instagram (@calmrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).