The men's rowing team finished its season in style June 7 at the IRA Championships on the Cooper River in Camden, N. J., placing fourth in the Varsity 8 Grand Final behind Wisconsin, Washington and Cal.
The finish is the best for a Northeastern crew since 1993, when they took third, and a vast improvement over last season's disappointing eleventh place, out of 24 boats.
Northeastern rowers found themselves in the final after two days in qualifying heats. On Thursday, the crew, seeded No. 7, placed second in their heat and advanced to the semifinal with a time of 5:51.997. They were behind only Wisconsin and bested Navy, Michigan, Boston University and George Washington University.
On Friday, the Huskies moved themselves into the Grand Final with a third-place finish in the semifinals with a much faster 5:43.585. Washington and Cal advanced with the Huskies, while Navy, Harvard and Yale were relegated to the Petite Final.
The crew rowed the final in 5:42.399, their fastest time of the regatta, but 11 seconds behind champion Wisconsin, and 10 seconds behind runner-up Washington, who nearly had its own private dual meet in the final. Cal, at 5:39.021, was in open water in third, and the Huskies led the second tier of racers, holding off Stanford by one second and Columbia by two.
This was Northeastern's first appearance in the Grand Final since 2005, and the jump from eleventh to fourth place is the second-best improvement in the Huskies 43-year history at IRA.
The Huskies second Varsity 8 boat were runners up in the Petite Final behind Cornell. That gave them an eighth overall finish, up from eleventh last season.
The Freshman 8 came in third in its Petite Final behind Stanford and Washington, good for a 10th overall finish.
The crews combined for 148 team points, good enough for sixth place, 66 points behind Washington, the team champion.
Members of the men's crew are currently in England participating in the English Henley Regatta, the world's most prestigious regatta.
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