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Two Terrier Boats Finish in Top Six at IRAs; BU Receives Chapman Award for Most Improved Team
June 6, 2009 IRA Championship Information | Row2K Coverage SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Boston University men's crew team concluded one of its best postseason performances in the history of the program, as the Terriers finished sixth in the varsity eight race and fourth in the 2V8 at the IRA Championships Saturday afternoon on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif. By sending both varsity boats to the Grand Final, first-year head coach Thomas Bohrer and BU received the Clayton Chapman Award for the most improved team in the country. Last year, the Terriers finished 15th in the Ten Eyck Award (team championship) standings with 45 points after they took ninth in the 2V8 and 16th in the V8 races, respectively. This time around, BU took seventh overall with 125 points, an 80-point improvement. Washington won the team title with 198 points, and Syracuse finished second in the Chapman Award standings with a 58-point improvement from the previous season. In the first race of the day, the 13th-seeded freshman eight boat took second in the 3rd level final at 6:10.624, less than two seconds behind 11th-seed MIT, to finish 14th overall. The fifth-seeded 2V8 boat showed that its bronze-medal performance at Eastern Sprints was no fluke, as the Terriers took fourth in the Grand Final. They started the race in sixth after 500 meters, but through the midway point had managed to stay close with California, Harvard and Wisconsin for the third-place spot. With 500 left in the race and trailing Harvard in the fourth spot by half a second, the Terriers used all the energy left in the tank to overtake the Crimson and finish fourth overall at 5:59.77 with Harvard placing fifth at 6:00.04. Washington won the race at 5:51.47, while Brown took second at 5:55.75. In the varsity eight Grand Final, the seventh-seeded Terriers had already exceeded expectations by reaching the national championship race for the first time since 2005. The clock struck midnight though, as BU finished sixth in the race with a time of 6:02.68. The boat stayed close with Brown and Harvard for the fourth spot but lost steam at the end. The Bears took fourth at 5:58.728, and the Crimson finished fifth at 6:01.64.
After trailing California by two seconds at the 1,000-meter mark, Washington overtook the Golden Bears in the final 500 to win the title with a time of 5:50.909. Varsity Eight: Bianca Wieczorek (cox), Meindert Klem, Milos Drljic, Josh Novak, Justin Martin, Nemanja Bekan, Sebastian Muller, Harrison Macris, Nick Anderson 2nd Varsity Eight: Maria Escallon (cox), Wijnand Schoemakers, Rich McGovern, Ricardo Sinicio-Tessarotto, Sjoerd Klem, James Potts, Travis Clarke, Milos Nikolic, Andy Fisher Freshman Eight: Bobby McGee (cox), Sean Dixon, Andrew Wagner, Nikolaus Geihe, Andrew Reswow, Chris Naso, John Cox, Connor Mace, Cameron Orcutt Ten Eyck Award (Team Championship) Chapman Award (point improvement from previous season) |
