WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – The Washington men's rowing team had all three of its eight-oared crews earn places in IRA Championship Regatta grand finals, with two wins and a second-place finish in semifinals Saturday at Mercer Lake.
 
The Huskies will row for national championships in the first, second and third varsity eights Sunday. UW was one of just three programs to earn a place in all three grand finals, along with California and Yale.
 
Also on Saturday, Washington's varsity four crew closed out its season with a win in the petite final, placing that boat seventh overall.
 
Washington's day began with the first of two A/B semifinals in the varsity eight. Favored California broke away from the starting docks in the lead with Harvard and Washington close behind. At 500 meters, the Bears led and the Crimson passed the buoy just two one-hundredths of a second ahead of UW.
 
By 1,000 meters, the Huskies and taken over second place and Harvard found itself in a fight for the third and final qualifying spot with Northeastern.
 
Cal held the lead the rest of the way with Washington remaining in contact throughout. At the finish, Northeastern passed its Boston neighbors and finished third.
 
The Golden Bears won the semi with a time of 6:02.434, about six seats in front of Washington (6:04.640). Northeastern was about eight-tenths of a second in front of Harvard for third.
 
Princeton, Yale and Syracuse earned berths into the grand final with top-three finishes in the other semi.
 
The Huskies won their second varsity eight semifinal in wire-to-wire fashion, taking the lead from the start and essentially holding the same margin over second-place Harvard for the full 2,000 meters. The Huskies won with a time of 6:15.581, 2.716 seconds in front of the Crimson (6:18.297).
 
Dartmouth was challenged by Princeton for the third qualifying spot, but the Big Green pulled away at the end to move through to the grand final.
 
Cal, Yale and Brown advanced from the other semifinal.
 
Yale took the lead early on in the third varsity eight heat, with Cal second and UW third. The Huskies quickly rowed into second and, before the 1,000 meter mark, had rowed through Yale into first place.
 
The Huskies, seeded No. 1 overall in the 3V8+, rebounded from a second-place finish in a Friday heat to command the second half of the race and win with a final time of 6;29.185. Cal (6;32.235) and Yale (6:33.675) finished comfortably in the other two qualifying spots.
 
Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth moved through to the grand final from the other 3V8+ semi.
 
Washington's varsity four was placed into the petite final (places 7-12) after semifinals were canceled due to poor weather Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies took the lead off of the starting dock and crossed 500 meters in front, but in the second 500 both Harvard and Holy Cross moved in front of the Huskies.
 
Washington moved back into second place, behind the Crimson, by 1,500 meters and, in the final sprint, just surged ahead at the finish.
 
The Husky four won the race with a time of 7:11.053 while Harvard was second, in 7:11.721. Holy Cross held on for third place.
 
Here's the full schedule of Sunday's grand finals (revised at 9:50 a.m. PT Saturday):
 
6:04 a.m. PT – Third Varsity Eight Grand Final
Lanes 2-7: Yale, Brown, Washington, Harvard, California, Dartmouth
 
6:28 a.m. PT – Second Varsity Eight Grand Final
Lanes 2-7: Dartmouth, Yale, Washington, California, Harvard, Brown
 
7:08 a.m. PT – Varsity Eight Grand Final
Lanes 2-7: Northeastern, Yale, California, Princeton, Washington, Syracuse.
 
 
 
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)