PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — The MIT men's heavyweight crew Varsity 8+ finished sixth in its opening heat on Friday at the IRA National Championship on the Cooper River. The Engineers also earned a fourth place finish in the DE Semifinals of the Varsity 4+ as both crews will return to action on Saturday afternoon following Friday's results.

THE BASICS:

• V8+:
  • Heat 1 of 2: 6th of 6 (6:01.460) - Advanced to CD Semifinals (Saturday)
• V4+: 
  • Time Trial: 23rd of 39 (6:20.310) - Advanced to DE Semifinal
  • Semifinal DE: 4th of 6 (06:38.240) - Advanced to E Final (Saturday)

RACE BY RACE:

• V8+: MIT fell behind the field through the first 500m and could not make-up ground as the Engineers moved through the middle of the course. Top-ranked Cal did enough to hold off a challenge from Penn and Brown at the front of the pack, while La Salle and Temple moved away from through the 1000m and 1500m mark. MIT finished in sixth in 6:01.460, ten seconds back of fifth-place Temple. 
• V4+: The Varsity 4+ opened the day with a time of 6:30.310 in the Time Trials, finishing 23rd of 39 crews before moving to the DE Semifinal. The Engineers finished fourth in the DE Semifinal, as MIT had a time of 6:38.240 in a tight heat where only 4.540 seconds separated first place from fourth place. 

BOATINGS:

• V8+: C. Arnav Aggarwal; 8. Sam Dowd; 7. Jimmy Cabot; 6. Declan King; 5. Drake Elliott; 4. Cal Wilson; 3. Blake Hudspeth; 2. Caden Gradek; 1. Cooper Price
• V4+: C. Melisande Nabage; 4. Jonathan Wang; 3. Eric Chung; 2. August Berne; 1. Graham Guité

UP NEXT:

• The IRA National Championship continues on Saturday.
• The V8+ will race in the CD Semifinals (Event #43) at 1:28 PM.
• The V4+ will race in the E Final (Event #48) at 2:16 PM.

STAY CONNECTED: 

• For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.