SACRAMENTO – For the first time since 2015, the Northeastern men's rowing first varsity is back in the Grand Final at the IRA Championships. Under sunny skies and perfect conditions on Lake Natoma, the Huskies put on an impressive performance in their A/B Semifinal to knock off Brown and secure a spot in the Grand Final at the national championship.
Northeastern, which finished third in their semifinal behind only top-seeded Yale and California, will go up against those crews, as well as Washington, Harvard and Princeton, in the 1V Grand Final on Sunday at 2:12 p.m. (ET). The second and third varsity boats, meanwhile, will row in the Petite Final on Sunday at 1:16 p.m. (ET) and 1:00 p.m. (ET), respectively.
"I'm really proud of the whole team," said head coach
John Pojednic. "The 1V advancing in a solid way to the A Final clearly indicated that they belonged in that race. That was a team effort today. The 2V and 3V are good, young boats, and they have an opportunity to go out and win a B Final tomorrow.
"I'm proud of the way that we've handled this year. This is a good team. We have a very strong team culture. These guys have been fully bought in all along the way, and we're really proud of them. It's gratifying to have that amount to a meaningful, competitive opportunity tomorrow."
Seeded seventh entering the championships, the first varsity got out to a quick start with Yale and California taking the top two spots early, leaving Northeastern and Brown to battle it out for the final spot in the Grand Final. Through the opening 500-meters, the Huskies were up slightly on the Bears before slowly extending it to two seats during the second 500. Northeastern, which finished five seconds back of the Bears at the Eastern Sprints, continued its pace throughout the body of the race, steadily increasing its lead to four seats approaching the final 500-meters before breaking into open water late to secure its place in the Grand with a time of 5:36.104, four seconds ahead of Brown and the fourth fastest time of the day among all crews.
After earning a spot in the A/B Semifinal thanks to a win in the repechage on Friday, the second varsity went up against a loaded field in Saturday's semi with Yale and Harvard bolting out to the early lead. It was Northeastern, Boston University and Brown left to fight it out for the third place position, with the Bears out in front by three seats on the Terriers, with the Huskies lurking close behind. Through the second 500-meters, the Huskies pushed back on BU looking to overtake the Terriers for fourth as Brown maintained a stranglehold on third. Northeastern continued to close the gap on BU to the finish, but it was the Terriers who held on by a bow ball to take fourth by 0.034 seconds.
In the 3V, it was Yale once again out in front early with Northeastern, Harvard and Brown tightly packed fighting for the second and third place spots. Approaching the 1000-meter mark, it was the Crimson up one-third of a length on the Bears, with Brown up one-third of a length on the Huskies. As the crews made their way down the course, Harvard and Brown were able to slightly pull away from Northeastern, leaving the Huskies in fourth at 5:52.938.
Results and Lane Assignments
| First Varsity - Grand Final |
Second Varsity - Petite Final |
Third Varsity - Petite Final |
|
| 1 - Washington |
1 - Boston University |
1 - Northeastern |
|
| 2 - Yale |
2 - Dartmouth |
2 - Boston University |
|
| 3 - Harvard |
3 - Northeastern |
3 - Syracuse |
|
| 4 - California |
4 - Syracuse |
4 - Navy |
|
| 5 - Princeton |
5 - Navy |
5 - Wisconsin |
|
| 6 - Northeastern |
6 - Cornell |
6 - Dartmouth |
|
| First Varsity - A/B Semifinal |
Second Varsity - A/B Semifinal |
Third Varsity - A/B Semifinal |
|
| 1. Yale - 5:33.044 |
1. Harvard - 5:45.492 |
1. Yale - 5:45.333 |
|
| 2. California - 5:34.897 |
2. Yale - 5:47.289 |
2. Harvard - 5:46.453 |
|
| 3. Northeastern - 5:36.104 |
3. Brown - 5:50.489 |
3. Brown - 5:47.821 |
|
| 4. Brown - 5:40.622 |
4. Boston University - 5:52.057 |
4. Northeastern - 5:52.938 |
|
| 5. Cornell - 5:46.720 |
5. Northeastern - 5:52.091 |
5. Syracuse - 5:56.069 |
|
| 6. Stanford - 5:49.435 |
6. Navy - 5:55.986 |
6. Wisconsin - 5:56.876 |
|
|
Second Varsity - Repechage |
|
Varsity Four - Repechage |
|
Northeastern - 5:57.113 |
|
Boston University - 6:37.44 |
|
Pennsylvania - 6:04.166 |
|
Dartmouth - 6:41.12 |
|
Stanford - 6:04.876 |
|
Wisconsin - 6:44.39 |
|
Santa Clara - 6:20.178 |
|
Northeastern - 6:53.40 |
| First Varsity - Heat |
Second Varsity - Heat |
Third Varsity - Heat |
Varsity Four - Heat |
| 1. Washington - 5:35.003 |
1. Washington - 5:47.446 |
1. Washington - 5:47.318 |
1. Stetson - 6:32.058 |
| 2. Northeastern - 5:41.539 |
2. Boston University - 5:49.926 |
2. Northeastern - 5:50.936 |
2. Georgetown - 6:36.093 |
| 3. Cornell - 5:47.459 |
3. Northeastern - 5:53.453 |
3. Dartmouth - 5:54.238 |
3. Cornell - 6:39.402 |
| 4. Columbia - 5:49.138 |
4. Wisconsin - 6:00.114 |
4. Hobart - 6:12.376 |
4. Jacksonville - 6:40.102 |
| 5. Oregon State - 5:51.788 |
5. Drexel - 6:18.554 |
5. Stanford - 6:17.891 |
5. Northeastern - 6:46.065 |
| 6. UC San Diego - 6:03.823 |
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