Women’s Lightweight Crew Sweeps Opening Heats at IRA National Championship

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — The MIT women's lightweight crew team swept through its opening heats on Saturday at the IRA National Championship on the Cooper River, finishing first in both the 2x and 4+ heats to earn the top seed in both the 2x and 4+ Grand Finals on Sunday.

THE BASICS:

2x: 1st of 4
4+: 1st of 7

RACE BY RACE:

2x: MIT got out fast taking the lead at 500m with only a challenge from Princeton. The Engineers and Princeton continued to duel through the middle 1000m, as MIT had a one second lead at the 1000m mark before increasing its advantage to three seconds past the 1500m mark but it was Wisconsin that moved from third to second over the final 500m to push the Engineers. MIT withheld the late push, winning the heat in 8:02.560. Wisconsin was second in 8:06.300 with Princeton in third and Harvard in fourth.
4+: In the Race for Lanes in the 4+ Grand Final, MIT posted a wire to wire win finishing in 7:30.700. The Engineers matched up with crews from Princeton, BU, Harvard, Wisconsin, Georgetown and Stanford and will see the same teams tomorrow. Princeton was the runner-up in the race for lanes, finishing in 7:33.780.

BOATINGS:

2x: Avery Reischer-Craft; Katherine Wei;
4+: C. Sophie Thompson; 4. Josephine Williams; 3. Calder Shen; 2. Olivia Stinson; B. Emily Knapp

UP NEXT:

The 2x will race in the IRA National Championship Women's 2x Grand Final at 8:10 AM on Sunday (Event #65).
The 4+ will race in the IRA National Championship Women's 4+ Grand Final at 8:20 AM on Sunday (Event #66).

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