By By Kirby Morrison, News Correspondent

Men’s crew placed 10th overall in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship Regatta, held on Sacramento’s Lake Natoma June 4 to 6. The University of Washington won the regatta with a time of 5:50.91. University of California-Berkeley took second with a time of 5:51.80, while Stanford took third with a time of 5:56.45.
‘ Despite not qualifying for the Grand Final, the varsity eight team had impressive showings in both its heat and repechage. In its initial heat, Northeastern completed the 2000-meter course in 5:56.42, third in a competitive group which included Berkeley, Cornell, Princeton, and Oregon State. The Huskies’ time was better than 17 of the 22 other schools competing in the other heats, most notably the eventual National Champion University of Washington. Later that day, Northeastern won its repechage with a time of 5:59.73, outdoing Navy and Gonzaga while qualifying for the semi-final.

With so many quality teams competing, the results depended on which teams could focus their energy on that particular race, men’s coach John Pojednic.

‘On any given day, there are only a few feet, if not inches, separating fourth place from 10th place,’ said men’s coach John Pojednic. ‘The outcomes might be different if you rowed the races again.’ ‘ Even with an impressive outing at the IRA Championship, as Northeastern’s boats all placed 10th or better, coach Pojednic has his eyes set on improving next year. ‘ ‘We expect to be in that IRA Grand Final, racing for the National Championship,’ Pojednic said. ‘We didn’t get there this year, so we’re hungry to get back at it.’ ‘ Northeastern was one of 12 schools to qualify for the two semi-final races held the next day. The top three schools in each six-team semi-final race earned spots in the Grand Final, and the bottom three earned spots in the Petite Final. Northeastern bore the brunt of a strong and steady southern wind as its lane assignment got the worst of the wind and finished last in their semi-final, earning a spot in the Petite Final. The tough wind hurt lanes six, five, and four while taking less of a toll on lanes one, two, and three. In both semi-final races, lanes one through three finished in the top half of the race and lanes four through six finished in the bottom half of the race. ‘ The Huskies finished fourth in the varsity eight Petite Final the next day with a time of 6:04.71, ahead of Columbia and Dartmouth, earning them 10th place overall. ‘ Northeastern performed well on the varsity four and freshman side as the boats finished seventh and ninth overall respectively. The Huskies won the varsity four Petite Final with a time of 6:44.12, besting Brown, Florida Tech, Yale, Loyola, and Drexel. ‘ ‘I was particularly pleased with our varsity four,’ Pojednic said. ‘These guys did a great job by focusing on the things that matter:’ teamwork, selflessness and hard work.’ ‘ The freshman boat finished with a time of 6:09.33, netting third place in the Petite Final and ninth overall. The freshmen narrowly missed a spot in the Grand Final after finishing second in their Repechage, trailing only the University of California, who went on to win the Grand Final. A first-place finish would have put Northeastern into the Grand Final. ‘ ‘The freshman crew went the fastest it’s gone all year, so that’s promising for the future,’ Pojednic said. ‘Freshman rowing is all about development, and I would say [assistant coach Brogan Graham] kept them on a steady track of development all year and in the final race.’ ‘ The IRA Championship marks the end of the 2009 spring season as the team will pick up where it left off at the end of the first week of fall semester. ‘ ‘We have a lot of guys who will come back hungry and fit,’ Pojednic said. ‘We stuck to our core values and handled ourselves with dignity and integrity, so I have no regrets. Northeastern Crew will be strong next year.”
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