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Women's Lightweight Four, Men's Pair Take on IRA
June 2, 2008
Two LMU boats will close out the 2007-08 season at the 106th Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta, held June 5-7 on Cooper River in Camden, NJ. The women's lightweight four will be returning to the competition for the first time in almost two decades while the men's pair will make its debut at the event. The IRA Regatta is the oldest championship regatta in the United States. Appearing for the first time at the IRA Regatta is the men's pair of David Cronin and Scott Wike. The senior duo will be looking to cap their illustrious careers with a national title after claiming regional honors. Cronin and Wike won the gold in this year's Pacific Coast Rowing Championship by defeating UC Davis by 17 seconds. They also placed second at the WIRA in 2008 after winning the title in 2007. LMU will be one of 18 crews competing for the title, including three that were in last year's Grand Final. The 18-boat field will be separated into three six-boat heats with racing commencing at 7 a.m. on Thursday. The winners of each of the three Thursday heats moves directly into the Saturday Grand Final without racing again on Friday. The remaining 15 boats will race in the three repechage races on Friday, with the winners of each of the repechage heats advancing along with Thursday's winners to the Grand Final on Saturday. The second and third place boats from the repechage go into the Petite Final to race for places 7-12. The remaining boats go into the 3rd Level Final to race for places 13-18. Announced on Tuesday were the heat sheets, with LMU drawing lane two of the third heat, starting at 7:24 a.m. The Lions will face three Ivy League foes in Harvard, Brown, and Yale, as well as Loyola. The women's lightweight four qualified for the IRA Nationals by winning the gold at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on May 4. Seniors Jill Austin and Jen Glassman will be making a return to the IRA after rowing in the lightweight eight last season and will be joined in the four boat by freshmen Mary Foster and Liz LaLonde, along with senior cox Jennifer Guess.
LMU is slated to race at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 6. They will face five other qualifiers from regional championships: WIRA, SIRA, A-10 Conference Championships, Dad Vail Championships, and the top 2 winners from the IRA lightweight eight the previous year. Defending champion Princeton is included in the field. This is the second year that the IRA will feature the light four after several years on hiatus. The event returned to the regatta in 2007 in an effort to promote women's lightweight rowing across the nation with Princeton taking the gold. LMU had won the national championship in the light four in 1981 and 1989. "Our lightweight program has gained considerable momentum in the past few years, and we are excited to be making our second consecutive trip to National Championships," Women's Coach Sara-Mai Conway said. "The girls in this four have been successful with racing this season and they are looking forward to testing themselves at the IRA's. This is a great opportunity to race teams from outside of the Western Region and see how LMU holds up on the national level." Last year, LMU sent one boat, the women's lightweight eight, to the IRA Championships, finishing ninth. The last time that the LMU men competed in the IRA was in 1999 in the "Open 4" division. For complete regatta information, including schedule, results, directions, and weather, click here. Women's Lightweight Four - Championship Friday, June 6; 3:00 p.m. Men's Pair - Heats Thursday, June 5; 7 a.m. Heat 3 - Thursday, June 5; 7:24 a.m. |
