Cornell Lightweights Win Third Straight National Title

Monday, June 09, 2008

COOPER RIVER, N.J. -- For the third straight year the Cornell men's lightweight rowing team came home from the IRA Regatta with a national title in the varsity eight race, one of three Big Red affiliated boats to capture first place at the 2008 national championships on Saturday afternoon on the Cooper River in Camden County, N.J. Also taking home first place in the grand finals were the men's varsity pair and the master's eights.

The lightweight varsity edged out runner-up Navy by a little more than a second as the top four boats all finished within 2.1 seconds of each other. The Big Red's automated time of 5:39.194 was good enough to give Cornell a sweep of the Eastern Sprints and IRA titles for the second time in three seasons.

The top lightweight boat got underway first with a 7 a.m. semifinal race, and Cornell topped Navy in what would be a replay of the finals, crossing the line in 5:49.254 to easily earn a spot in the afternoon's grand final.

The varsity eight also topped the field in their respective petite final, crossing the line in 5:38.888 to knock off second place Brown, helping Cornell finish five spots ahead of the pre-race charts and setting up a historic lightweight eight grand final performance.

In the heavyweight varsity eight grand final, it was Columbia coming up with the top Ivy finish in sixth place.

For the complete list of 2008 IRA Regatta results, please click here.

IRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

MEN'S HEAVYWEIGHT
Cooper River; Camden County, N.J.

VARSITY EIGHTS

Grand Final -- 1. Wisconsin, 05:31.173; 2. Washington, 05:32.894; 3. California, 05:39.021; 4. Northeastern, 05:42.399; 5. Stanford, 05:43.324; 6. Columbia, 05:44.565.

Petite Final -- 1. Cornell, 05:38.888; 2. Brown, 05:41.764; 3. Yale, 05:42.848; 4. Princeton, 05:44.423; 5. Harvard, 05:45.851; 6. Navy, 05:53.597.

Third Level Final -- 1. Syracuse, 05:44.808; 2. Oregon State, 05:45.001; 3. Dartmouth 05:49.815; 4. Boston University 05:50.722; 5. Michigan 05:51.960; 6. Penn, 06:01.819.

SECOND VARSITY EIGHTS

Grand Final -- 1. Washington, 05:39.308; 2. California, 05:41.530; 3. Wisconsin 05:43.925; 4. Harvard, 05:49.236; 5. Orange Coast College, 05:51.227; 6. Brown 05:52.298.

Petite Final -- 1. Cornell, 05:46.716; 2. Northeastern, 05:50.142; 3. Boston University, 05:50.164; 4. Harvard, 05:53.451; 5. Oregon State, 05:53.783; 6. Princeton, 06:04.523.

Third Level Final -- 1. Yale, 05:53.182; 2. Navy, 05:53.606; 3. Georgetown, 05:58.112; 4. Michigan, 06:00.542; 5. Syracuse, 06:02.046; 6. Holy Cross, 06:10.242.

FRESHMAN EIGHTS

Grand Final -- 1. California, 05:37.372; 2. Washington, 05:37.880; 3. Harvard, 05:42.335; 4. Yale, 05:44.752; 5. Brown, 05:47.378; 6. Princeton, 05:48.629.

Petite Final -- 1. Stanford, 05:46.967; 2. Wisconsin, 05:49.564; 3. Northeastern, 05:53.644; 4. Syracuse, 05:53.915; 5. Navy, 05:54.897; 6. Yale, 05:59.596.

Third Level Final -- 1. Gonzaga, 05:53.913; 2. Hobart, 05:55.456; 3. Cornell, 05:55.833; 4. Dartmouth, 05:58.960; 5. Georgetown, 06:00.741; 6. Columbia, 06:04.675.

MEN'S LIGHTWEIGHT
Cooper River; Camden County, N.J.

VARSITY EIGHTS

Grand Final -- 1. Cornell, 05:39.194; 2. Navy, 05:40.782; 3. Yale, 05:41.203; 4. Princeton, 05:41.948; 5. Georgetown, 05:45.827; 6. Dartmouth, 05:50.715.

Petite Final -- 1. Columbia, 05:54.108; 2. MIT, 05:57.779; 3. Fordham, 06:01.832.