WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Washington men's rowing team saw all four of its crew earn places in A/B semifinals Friday on day one at the IRA Championship Regatta on Mercer Lake.
 
Washington won its varsity eight and second varsity eight heats and finished second in the third varsity. The varsity four was seventh in a time trial and was set to row in its A/B/C semifinal Friday afternoon before lightning storms in the area brought racing to and end for the day.
 
In an effort to avoid more poor weather on Saturday, the schedule was condensed and the varsity four semifinals were all cancelled. As the No. 7 finisher in the time trials, the Huskies were placed in the petite final (places 7-12), while the top six were went to the grand final.
 
The Huskies will row in A/B semifinals in all three eights categories, and then in the varsity four petite final, Saturday morning.
 
Washington opened its morning with a win in the fourth of four varsity eight heats. The Huskies raced out to the lead with Syracuse close behind in the first 500. Those two quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field, taking an open-water advantage very early.
 
By 1,000 meters, Washington had a length over the Orange and those two seemed comfortable to row the final 1,000 in the two qualifying places.
 
Washington finished in 5:37.436 with Syracuse a length back at 5:40.980. Those two earned a spot in Saturday's A/B semifinal, while the other four entries in the heat had to row in repechages on Friday afternoon.
 
The UW's second varsity eight heat was similar to the varsity's, except that it was Yale in the second spot. The Huskies and Bulldogs moved ahead of the other three shells in the heat right from the start, with Washington's bow always in front.
 
Again, with those two comfortably in qualifying positions, it was a relatively relaxed second half of the race with each crew turning it on at the finish.
 
Washington crossed the finish line in 5:43.049, about seven or eight seats in front of Yale, in 5:45.655, with another nine-plus seconds back to third-place Northeastern.
 
In the Huskies' third varsity eight heat, Harvard grabbed the early lead just ahead of Washington, with Princeton not far behind in third. Once again, the race settled into what would end up being the final order very early.
 
The Crimson crew led the entire way, with Washington close behind and Princeton in relatively close pursuit of the second qualifying spot.
 
In the end, Harvard finished in 5:48.902, with about a half-length of open water back to Washington (5:54.186), which finished a length ahead of third-place Princeton.
 
The varsity fours were subject to a different race progression as the 32 entries in that race category competed in time trials in the morning, followed by semifinals in the afternoon.
 
The Huskies finished the time trial in 6:26.308, the seventh-fastest time of the 32 entrants. That qualified them for one of three A/B/C semifinals, which were to be held Friday afternoon. However, before those races began, a lightning delay interrupted racing and, after about a half-hour delay, the race officials decided to call it a day.
 
Here is the updated schedule of races for Saturday (updated at 3:30 p.m. PT Friday):
 
4:54 a.m. PT, MV8+ A/B Semifinal #1
Lanes 2-7: Dartmouth, Northeastern, California, Washington, Harvard, Pennsylvania
 
5:18 a.m. PT, M2V8+ A/B Semifinal #2
Lanes 2-7: Northeastern, Dartmouth, Washington, Harvard, Princeton, Boston University
 
5:34 a.m. PT, M3V8+ A/B Semifinal #2
Lanes 2-7: Boston University, Washington, Yale, California, Princeton, Navy
 
6:54 a.m. PT, MV4+ Petite Final
Lanes 2-7: Jacksonville, Brown, Washington, Holy Cross, Harvard, Stetson
 
 
WASHINGTON LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: ShoeDawg
Cox: Nick Dunlop (Psychology)
Stroke: Darcy McCluskey (Environmental Studies)
7: Jack Walkey (International Security)
6: Logan Ullrich (Food Systems, Nutrition & Health)
5: Povilas Juskevicius (Pre-Major/Informatics)
4: Joel Cullen (Postbaccalaureate Study)
3: Blake Bradshaw (Geography)
2: Cameron Tasker (Political Economy)
Bow: Max Heid (Finance)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Brett "Big Red" Reisinger '98
Cox: Kieran Joyce (Pre-Major/Business)
Stroke: Max Mason (Economics)
7: Robert Pluijmert (Biochemistry)
6: Gus Altucher (Philosophy)
5: Blake Vogel (Real Estate)
4: Pablo Matan (Philosophy; Political Economy)
3: Luke Henry (Real Estate)
2: Marius Ahlsand (Pre-Major/Political Economy)
Bow: Ethan Blight (Food Systems, Nutrition & Health)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Zach Casler (MS in Information Management)
Stroke: Michael Thiers (International Security)
7: Harry Fitzpatrick (Pre-Major/Communication)
6: Ben Shortt (Pre-Major/Economics)
5: Adam Krol (Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology)
4: Archie Drummond (Global and Regional Studies)
3: Jonathan Wang-Norderud (Pre-Major/Economics)
2: Nils Vorberg (International Studies; Political Economy)
Bow: Giulio Acernese (Political Economy)
 
Varsity Four
Shell: George Yeoman Pocock
Stroke: Max Taylor (Pre-Major/Political Economy)
3: Ethan Walsh (Pre-Major/Biology)
2: Ryan Smith (Pre-Major/Economics)
Bow: Louis Gallia IV (Real Estate)
Cox: Tess Kadian (Journalism)
 
Spares
Alex Gonin (Pre-Major/Biology)
Quinn Hall (Pre-Major/Informatics)
Athena Baches (Physics & Astronomy)