PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — The MIT men's lightweight crew Varsity 8+ advanced directly to the grand final with a third place finish in the team's opening heat on Friday at the IRA National Championship on the Cooper River. With the team's performance in the opening day heats, MIT earned a spot in the Varsity 8+ Grand Final for the first time since 1993.  

THE BASICS:

• V8+:
  • Heat 2 of 2: 3rd of 5 (05:43.110) - Advanced to Grand Final
• V4+: 
  • Time Trial: 7th of 10 (6:26.280) - Advanced to AB Semifinal
  • Semifinal AB: 4th of 5 (6:40.300) - Advanced to Petite Final (Saturday)

RACE BY RACE:

• V8+: Harvard led through the race, building a slight edge by the 500m mark before extending their advantage through 1000m and 1500m. The Crimson won the opening heat in 5:39.840 but the race for second between Dartmouth and MIT came down to just .200 of a second, as the Big Green held a slight lead throughout the course before finishing slightly ahead of MIT's time of 5:43.110. The Engineers advanced to the Grand Final with the third place time, defeating crews from Yale and Columbia in the heat.
• V4+: Later in the day, MIT's varsity four opened with a time of 6:26.280 in the Lightweight 4+ time trials, finishing seventh in the field to move on to the AB Semifinal. In the AB Semifinal, MIT came up one spot short of earning a place in the Grand Final, taking fourth place in 6:40.300. The Engineers were six seconds back of third place Georgetown. 

BOATINGS:

• V8+: C. Jane Atkinson; 8. Harry Sillifant; 7. Kieran Dunn; 6. Lucas Young; 5. Ryosei Tanakamaru; 4. Marc Rizk; 3. Daniel Kurlander; 2. Robert Romani; 1. Jonathan Dase
• V4+: C. Gavin Ng; 4. Hector Astrom; 3. Amirabbas Kazeminia; 2. Will Savage; 1. Christopher Hom

UP NEXT:

• The IRA National Championship continues on Saturday and Sunday.
• The V4+ will race in the Lightweight Varsity 4+ B Final (Event #51) on Saturday at 2:40 PM.
• The V8+ will race in the Varsity 8+ Grand Final on Sunday at 11:40 AM (Event #87).

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