Regatta Notes
Real Time Results

CHERRY HILL, N.J. – With another day of racing under its belt at the 2006 IRA National Championship on the Cooper River, the Boston University men’s crew team advanced to the Petite Finals in three events, while the varsity boat won its semifinal to earn a spot in the Third Level Final. The regatta, along with the 2005-06 BU season, will come to a close on Saturday afternoon after each of the five Terrier boats take one final row.

The varsity pair race was first to go in the morning, with BU rowing in the second of two repechages, where the Terriers placed third with a time of 7:17.4, which was good for advancement to the Petite Final. Stanford won the race in 6:56.2 and Dartmouth was second in 7:11.8, while Georgia Tech was fourth behind BU in 7:21.6 and St. Joseph’s was fifth in 7:29.1. The Scarlet and White will face Rochester, Dartmouth, Hobart, Harvard and Navy in Saturday’s 9:50 a.m. Petites.

Shortly following the pair, the Terrier open four took to the water in the last of three reps, in which BU came up fourth behind Princeton “A” (6:44.3), George Washington (6:49.8) and Penn (6:51.6), with a time of 6:58.5. The Terriers will row in tomorrow’s Third Level Final at 8:18 a.m. versus Michigan, Princeton “B” and Cornell.

Earning BU’s second Petite Final berth of the day were the second varsity eights, who drew Brown, Syracuse and Michigan in the second of three reps. Syracuse, Brown and BU all jumped out to an early lead over Michigan, rowing nearly even in the first 500. During the second 500, Brown gained a half length and at 1,000 meters, BU slipped back as Syracuse took second place. The order stayed true through the second half of the race, as Brown won in 5:58.4, Syracuse was second in 6:00.5, BU was third with a time of 6:02.1 and Michigan came up fourth in 6:04.8.

The Terriers will row at 12:54 on Saturday in the Petite Final against Syracuse, Princeton, California, Cornell and Navy.

Next up the BU varsity eight boat recovered from yesterday afternoon’s disappointing finish in the reps to win the fourth semifinal for a place in the Third Level Final tomorrow at 1:33 p.m. The Terriers leapt out to an early lead and never relinquished it throughout the 2,000-meter course. Columbia challenged the Terriers in the first 500, but BU used an early burst to have a multiple-seat lead at the 500 mark, which the team crossed in 1:24. In the second 500, the Terriers opened up a length lead, and had a hint of open water by the 1,000-meter marker.

The other five teams could not catch up to the smooth-sailing Terriers, as they rowed to the victory in 5:53.5. Next was Columbia (5:58.1), followed by Oregon State (6:02.8), George Washington (6:06.0), Rutgers (6:10.1) and Dartmouth (6:21.9). BU will meet Georgetown, Michigan, Holy Cross, Columbia and Oregon State tomorrow.

“It should have happened yesterday afternoon,” commented BU Head Coach Rodney Pratt of the strong showing of the varsity boat in the semis. “We had a good race yesterday morning, but it just wasn’t the same later on – when you’re behind by a length at the start, it’s hard to come back. They got a little row in this morning before the racing started and I think it helped – they needed to create something in this race and they did.”

The BU freshmen closed out the day’s racing with the Terriers’ third advancement to the Petites. In the second of four semis, Washington took the early lead in the first 500, with Wisconsin and Harvard in second and third, BU and Brown battling for fourth and Yale back in sixth. The order remained the same until the third 500, when the Terriers made a push to pull even with Brown and both boats made a move at Wisconsin, which dropped behind Harvard for third place. Brown sprinted past BU in the last 500, as the Terriers finished fifth in 6:02.2.

Washington was first (5:49.7), Harvard came up second (5:54.8), Wisconsin was third (5:57.3), Brown was fourth (5:59.3) and Yale finished sixth (6:08.2). BU will in the Saturday Petite Final at 12:42 p.m. (opponents TBA).