GOLD RIVER, Calif. – It was a day of tight and exciting racing on Day Two of the IRA National Championships on Saturday at Lake Natoma, with the Northeastern men's rowing team advancing each of its eights to the B Final, while the varsity four placed third in its B Final.
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Additionally, Northeastern was named the winner of the 2025-26 Rusty Callow Award, which is presented each year by the EARC to the crew that, in the previous year, best personified the virtues of "spirit, courage and unity." Awarded annually since 1963, the winner of the award is determined by a vote of the EARC head coaches.
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Princeton flew off the start in the first varsity race to establish control early with Northeastern and Washington keeping close behind in the opening 500-meters. As Princeton and Washington began to move away from the field in the second 500, it became a race for third and the final spot in the A Final between the Huskies and Dartmouth. Northeastern held a two-seat lead approaching the 1000, but the Big Green pulled level entering the second half of the race. Dartmouth put a push on in the third 500 looking to avenge the Eastern Sprints result against the Huskies, and did just that to pull ahead and take third place by two seats entering the final 500 before holding off the Huskies the rest of the way (5:40.630) to send Northeastern (5:42.380) into the B Final.
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Northeastern will row out of Lane 1 in Sunday's B Final against Penn, Syracuse, Brown, Yale and Boston University at 11:56 a.m. (PT).
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The second varsity semifinal saw tight racing early with Yale leading the first after a hot start. The Bulldogs maintained its lead through the first 500-meters with Washington and California trailing close behind and Northeastern lurking in fourth. As Washington and Cal began to overtake Yale at the 1000, it was Brown who pulled ahead of the Huskies for fourth before ultimately edging the Bulldogs at the line for third as Northeastern could not close the gap down the stretch to take fifth at 5:52.620.
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Sunday's B Final is set for 11 a.m. with Northeastern in Lane 3 against Yale, Penn, Stanford, Cornell and Dartmouth.
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Yale, Harvard and Washington all got off to strong starts in the third varsity with Northeastern maintaining contact with the Bulldogs in fourth to stay within striking distance through the first 500-meters. As Washington and Harvard moved away from the field, Yale looked to keep Northeastern at an arm's length with the last qualifying spot in the A Final still up for grabs. With half a length to make up in the final 500-meters, Northeastern made a push in the final strokes to narrow the gap on the Bulldogs before running out of water to take fourth (5:56.640).
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The 3V will move on the B Final on Sunday at 9:38 a.m. (PT) against Dartmouth, Boston University, Penn, Stanford and Syracuse.
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Northeastern got off to a blistering start in the B Final of the varsity four to lead the field by a full length through the first 500-meters. The field wouldn't go away, though, as the remaining crews cut into the deficit to trim the Huskies lead in half at the 1000 before Boston University and Syracuse came up to make it a three-boat race. As the Terriers overtook Northeastern for the lead, the Orange crept up late as well to push the Huskies into the third position to finish ninth in the nation at 6:38.430.Â
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