GOLD RIVER, Calif. – Washington's No. 2-ranked men's rowing team won three of four semifinals and earned a spot in the grand final in all four boat categories Saturday morning at the 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship regatta at Lake Natoma.
 
The Huskies' morning was highlighted with a victory in the second of two A/B semifinals in the varsity eight, the event in which the national champion will be determined. The Huskies will be joined by Cal, Harvard, Yale and Princeton in all three of the eights finals on Sunday, with Northeastern rounding out the field in the varsity eight and Brown in the second and third varsity eights races.
 
The UW, Cal and Yale have accounted for every IRA national championship since 2008, with the Elis having won the last two. The Huskies have won six over the last 10 years.
 
Washington's varsity four will also race for a national title in an eclectic grand final field along with Cal, Princeton, MIT, Georgetown and Stetson, which is competing at IRAs for the first time.
 
"The level of rowing in the semifinals today was amazing to watch," UW coach Michael Callahan said. "Everything is earned out there on the race course and we saw that today. I'm always impressed on how the field comes together on semifinal day and we see impressive races by the Huskies and our competitors. Our team is resilient and we know it's time to extend ourselves."
 
The morning started for the Huskies with their varsity eight semi. Harvard took the lead in the early stages, but it didn't last as Washington drew even and then moved in front after the 500-meter mark. Washington started to pull away in the second half of the race, but Harvard remained in contention, not too far behind. Princeton and Boston University fought for the third and final spot in the grand final and the top four boats all crossed the finish line relatively close to one another.
 
The Huskies' time of 5:34.645 was about six seats ahead of Harvard, which crossed in 5:36.635. Princeton edged BU by a little over a second to take third place. In the other semi, Yale beat Cal by a slightly smaller margin.
 
Washington's second varsity eight started its race aggressively and took the lead over the first 500, but California answered and drew even. By 1,000 meters, the Golden Bears were nearly a length in front, but those two rivals were well ahead of the remainder of the field, meaning they needed only to row a clean race to secure a berth in the grand final. Cal won the semifinal by six seats, beating the Husky 2V after having run second at both the UW-Cal Dual and the Pac-12 Championships. Cal's time was 5:37.310 while Washington posted a 5:39.344. Third-place Princeton was another seven-plus seconds back.
 
Harvard, Yale and Brown advanced from the other 2V8+ semifinal.
 
In the 3V8+ race, Washington's crew rowed the program's most dominant 2,000 meters of the day, leading from start to finish in relatively comfortable fashion. The Husky crew went to the lead with Cal and Princeton close behind, but never allowed any other teams into the race for first. However, with the fight between Cal, Princeton and Boston University for the two other qualifying spots, none of the boats trailing had the luxury of letting up, narrowing the gap by the end.
 
Washington (5:45.683) won the race by five seats over second-place Princeton, but the Tigers beat Cal by less than a second, with BU missing out on the grand final by less than half of a second. Yale, Harvard and Brown finished top three in the other semifinal.
 
Washington's morning came to a close with the first A/B semifinal in the varsity four. UW's undefeated crew left the starting dock in the lead and were never threatened while three other teams put on a terrific race for the two other spots in the grand final.
 
The Husky four won with a time of 6:22.502. Meanwhile, MIT, Stetson and Georgetown came down to the wire with even the spectators at the finish line unsure of the order of finish unti the official word came. MIT took second in 6:22.532, just three one-hundredths of a second ahead of Stetson, who were less than four-tenths of a second in front of Boston University. In the other V4 semi, Cal was joined by Princeton and Georgetown in the top three.
 
Sunday, the Huskies will compete in the grand final in all four boat categories. In men's collegiate rowing, the winner of the varsity eight race is considered the "national champion," while the other crews compete for national titles in their boat categories. Additionally, the James Ten Eyck Trophy goes to the overall points winner, based on results from the first, second and third varsity eights.
 
Here's the Huskies' schedule for Sunday:
 
9:14 a.m. – Varsity 4+ Grand Final
Washington, California, Princeton, Georgetown, Stetson, MIT
 
10:08 a.m. – Third Varsity 8+ Grand Final
Washington, California, Harvard, Yale, Princeton & Brown
 
10:24 a.m. – Second Varsity 8+ Grand Final
Washington, California, Harvard, Yale, Princeton & Brown
 
11:12 a.m. – Varsity 8+ Grand Final
Washington, California, Harvard, Yale, Princeton & Northeastern
 
Sunday Coverage:
Live Timing
Live Video
 
WASHINGTON IRA LINEUPS
 
Varsity Eight
Shell: Chuck Holtz III
Cox: Adam Gold (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
Stroke: Andrew Gaard (Madison, Wis./West)
7: Ben Davison (Inverness, Fla./Citrus)
6: Samuel Halbert (Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville)
5: Madison Molitor (Moses Lake, Wash./Moses Lake)
4: Simon van Dorp (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
3: Chris Carlson (Bedford, N.H./Brewster Academy)
2: Harvey Kay (Nottingham, U.K.)
Bow: George Esau (Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
 
Second Varsity Eight
Shell: Grand Challenger
Cox: Kimmons Wilson (Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Stroke: Elijah Maesner (Duvall, Wash./Eastlake)
7: Peter Lancashire (Port Macquarie, Australia)
6: Michiel Mantel (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
5: Tennyson Federspiel (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
4: David Bridges (Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
3: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Leiden, Netherlands)
2: Philipp Nonnast (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Bow: Chase Deitner (Perth, Australia)
 
Third Varsity Eight
Shell: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Thomas Wenk (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier)
Stroke: Max Rennie (Deniniquin, Australia)
7: Mattijs Holler (Vienna, Austria)
6: Evan Olson (Bothell, Wash./Bothell)
5: Paolo Bifulco (Portland, Ore./Lincoln)
4: Felix Reinhold (Cape Town, South Africa)
3: Nick Everett (Brockville, Ont., Canada)
2: Pau Turina (Portland Ore./Benson Tech)
Bow: Ian Engstrom (Lincoln, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury)
 
Varsity Four
Shell: Lou Gellermann
Stroke: Cole Zwierzynski (Portland, Ore./Franklin)
3: Alexander Vollmer (Hamburg, Germany)
2: Carsten Rossen (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland)
Bow: Elliott de Bruin (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell)
Cox: Isabel Klein (Seattle, Wash./University Prep)