No. 2 Cal Wins Three of its Four Heats On First Day of IRA Championships :: Bears look to win their first national title since 2002

June 2, 2005

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The No. 2 California men's crew advanced all of its boats Thursday morning to Friday's semifinals of the IRA Championships on the Cooper River.

"All our boats are well positioned for tomorrow's semifinals," Cal head coach Steve Gladstone said. "What we saw today was somewhat predictable. For the varsity eight, the top four seeds look to be just that as all of them won their heats in comfortable fashion. It bodes well for us that Washington's freshman eight beat Brown, the Eastern Sprints champion, as we've done well against the Huskies."

The varsity eight won the second heat in a time of 5:57.14, while Navy was second at 6:00.82 and Michigan was third at 6:06.33. Princeton clocked the fastest time (5:56.02) in winning the first heat. The Golden Bears' second varsity eight won heat 2 of its division in 6:07.87.

The freshman eight claimed the third heat in a time of 6:05.27, which was the fastest time of all four heats.

In the open four with coxswain competition, Cal placed second in the second heat, clocking in at 6:54.38 and will compete in the semifinals tomorrow. The heat winners automatically advance to Saturday's final.

Cal crew is seeking its first national title since 2002.

Men's Varsity Eight
Heat 1 - 1. Princeton 5:56.02, 2. Stanford 6:02.26, 3. Rutgers 6:05.04, 4. Yale 6:06.81, 5. Virginia 6:12.83, 6. Penn 6:30.12; Heat 2 - 1. California 5:57.14, 2. Navy 6:00.82, 3. Michigan 6:06.33, 4. Boston U. 6:07.12, 5. Georgetown 6:25.4, 6. MIT 6:34.59; Heat 3 - 1. Washington 6:02.46, 2. Northeastern 6:05.82, 3. Syracuse 6:10.63, 4. Dartmouth, 6:12.28, 5. Columbia 6:14.11, 6. Wisconsin 6:17.67; Heat 4 - 1. Harvard 5:58.15, 2. Oregon St 6:04.7, 3. Cornell 6:05.79, 4. Brown 6:09.84, 5. HC 6:10.15, 6. Florida Tech 6:19.27.

Men's Second Varsity Eight
Heat 1 - 1. Wisconsin 5:59.49, 2. Washington 6:00.14, 3. Navy 6:18.4, 4. Michigan 6:20.64, 5. St. Joseph's 6:27.94; Heat 2 - 1. California 6:07.87, 2. Harvard 6:12.91, 3. Boston U. 6:19.86, 4. Virginia 6:34.62, 5. Minnesota 7:09.07; Heat 3 - 1. Yale 6:08.98, 2. Princeton 6:12.97, 3. Penn 6:28.26, 4. Dartmouth 6:33.91; Heat 4 - 1. Cornell 6:09.28, 2. Northeastern 6:16.17, 3. Syracuse 6:21.59, 4. Oregon St 6:26.11.

Men's Freshman Eight
Heat 1 - 1. Harvard 6:05.86, 2. Penn 6:08.52, 3. Colgate 6:21.13, 4. Virginia 6:24.09, 5. Minnesota 6:28.89, 6. Michigan 6:31.14, Heat 2 - 1. Princeton 6:09.96, 2. Boston U. 6:11.26, 3. Georgetown 6:13.72, 4. Syracuse 6:23.98, 5. Dartmouth 6:29.81, 6. Columbia 6:30.11; Heat 3 - 1. California 6:05.27, 2. Navy 6:09.89, 3. Cornell 6:12.12, 4. Northeastern 6:17.58, 5. Yale 6:25.00, 6. MIT 7:01.71; Heat 4 - 1. Washington 6:08.03, 2. Brown 6:09.95, 3. Wisconsin 6:10.94, 4. Rutgers 6:23.26, 5. Oregon St 6:27.33, 6. Marist 6:28.03.

Men's Open Four With Cox
Heat 1 - 1. Northeastern 6:57.02, 2. Washington 7:04.32, 3. Dartmouth 7:07.14, 4. Wisconsin A 7:28.47, 5. Cornell B 7:47.39; Heat 2 - 1. Georgetown 6:52.49, 2. California 6:54.38, 3. Penn 7:04.46, 4. Wisconsin B 7:18.6, 5. MIT 7:42.04 ; Heat 3 - 1. Cornell A 6:56.16, 2. Harvard 6:59.45, 3. Princeton 7:11.69, 4. Michigan 7:18.12, 5. Navy 7:20.45.