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Brown University
IRA National Championship
Men's Crew Takes Fourth at IRA National Championship
5/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The No. 6 Brown men's crew placed fourth overall in the varsity eight grand final as the Bears wrapped up the third and final day of competition at the IRA National Championship regatta Sunday at Mercer Lake.
Brown also took fourth in the third varsity and sixth in the second varsity as the Bears advanced three boats to the grand finals. Washington captured the varsity eight, which officially declares the national champion, for an unprecedented fifth-straight title. Brown also finished fourth in the Jim Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy, awarded to the school with the most team points, trailing only Washington, California and Princeton.
"I think the squad as a whole, the team had great team spirit and it showed on the racecourse and in the boats," said head coach Paul Cooke, who highlighted the varsity eight grand final. "The varsity couldn't quite get in there with Washington, Cal and Princeton, but to come away fourth in the country after some early season losses was really satisfying. For the guys to keep their head throughout the course of the whole season, to maintain a focus and concentration on racing the best race they could, I think that really showed in the grand final."
Due to a poor weather forecast, the race start times were changed and Bruno kicked off the final day with the varsity eight grand final, featuring Brown, Harvard, Washington, California, Princeton and Northeastern for the national title. Washington jumped out first and led Cal by about two seats around 500 meters, followed by Harvard and then Brown. The Huskies continued to press hard and increased their lead to seven seats at the halfway point and then open water at 1,250 meters. Cal and Princeton separated from Brown in a battle for second place with 500 meters to go, while Washington cruised to a fifth-straight title at 5:28.01. Cal edged Princeton for second, before Brown crossed in fourth at 5:36.19.
"Sometimes you have to look at things from the outside," said senior Hunter Leeming, who rowed in the varsity boat the last three seasons with a silver medal last year. "It's always unfortunate to not medal, but looking at our season and where we were just three weeks ago, and to then get fourth at Sprints and at the national championship, and to improve our ranking every single time we had the opportunity, made me proud to be part of Brown crew."
In the second varsity grand final, Brown remained in the leading pack at 500 meters, along with Washington, Cal, Princeton, Harvard and Boston University. From there, Brown and BU started to fall back at 750 meters, while Washington and Princeton pulled forward with Cal in third. Boston then made a charge to move past the Bears and eventually took third, while Washington finished ahead of Cal for the victory. Brown crossed in sixth place at 5:49.03.
The third varsity grand final was tightly contested after the opening 500 meters and Brown was right in the middle of the leading group. Washington soon moved out in front, while a trio of Harvard, Brown and Cal battled for second place position. Harvard and California made a push at the 1,000-meter point to comeback on the Huskies and separated from Bruno in a battle for second place, which went to the Crimson at the finish line. Brown held off both Princeton and Yale for fourth at 5:49.43 and Washington won its third race of the morning.
The varsity four rowed to victory in the petite final, crossing at 6:28.66 for seventh overall. Brown had a slow start and was fourth early in the race at 600 meters, but soon passed Marietta, BU and MIT during the second 500 meters for the lead at the halfway point and held on strong the rest of the way to close out the day with a victory.
Sunday Results
Varsity Eight Grand Final
1 WASHINGTON - 5:28.015
2 CALIFORNIA - 5:30.798
3 PRINCETON - 5:30.942
4 BROWN - 5:36.198
5 HARVARD - 5:38.680
6 NORTHEASTERN - 5:41.296
Second Varsity Grand Final
1 WASHINGTON - 5:33.643
2 PRINCETON - 5:34.667
3 BU - 5:38.324
4 CALIFORNIA - 5:42.338
5 YALE - 5:45.026
6 BROWN - 5:49.037
Third Varsity Grand Final
1 WASHINGTON - 5:40.389
2 HARVARD - 5:43.194
3 CALIFORNIA - 5:44.451
4 BROWN - 5:49.432
5 PRINCETON - 5:51.182
6 YALE - 5:51.224
Varsity Four Petite Final
1 BROWN - 6:28.665
2 MARIETTA - 6:30.349
3 YALE - 6:31.781
4 MIT - 6:34.108
5 BU - 6:34.527
6 CORNELL - 6:42.794
Team Championship Points
Washington - 198.0
California - 181.0
Princeton - 173.0
Brown - 159.0
Harvard - 157.0
Yale - 141.0
Boston University - 139.0
Northeastern - 122.0
Cornell - 120.0
Pennsylvania - 115.0
Navy - 98.0
Dartmouth - 90.0
Wisconsin - 86.0
Columbia - 53.0
Drexel - 39.0
Syracuse - 27.0
FIT - 25.0
George Washington - 24.0
Hobart - 24.0
Oregon State - 18.0
Holy Cross - 10.0
Stanford - 5.0
Oklahoma City - 0.0
Santa Clara - 0.0
