GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Wesleyan men's crew team secured a spot into both IRA Division III National Championship Grand Finals on Saturday, after showing well in Friday's preliminary heats on Lake Natoma. The Cardinals, who captured the 2024 IRA D3 National Championship, will go for another title on Saturday afternoon.
Needing a Top 3 finish in Heat 1, Wesleyan's varsity 8 secured a spot with a first place finish in their respective heat. Racing against Tufts, Bates, and Ithaca, the Cardinals posted a time of 5:58.14 to finish ahead of second place Tufts by 1.15 seconds. Wesleyan finished more than 13 seconds faster than third place Bates and over 17 seconds ahead of Ithaca. Wesleyan's top boat led by at least one second at all three of the 500m intervals, opening with a split of 1:26.52 over the first 500m to set the tone. When combined with the other four boats (Trinity, Williams, Marietta, Colby) coming from Heat 2, the Cardinals' preliminary time of 5:58.14 is the second-fastest of the eight total boats in the field. Saturday's grand final features Wesleyan against Trinity, Tufts, Williams, Bates, and Marietta.
In the fourth-ever IRA D3 National Championship 2
nd varsity 8 competition, Wesleyan's 2V8 was the second-fastest boat in Heat 1, comfortably earning one of the three spots from Heat 1 that qualified for the grand final. Wesleyan's 2V8 led the four-boat race in Heat 1 after 500m, posting a time of 1:30.5 at the interval, before the Jumbos' 2V8 boat overtook the Cardinals over the ensuing 500m and held a two-second lead for the remainder of the preliminary. Wesleyan's time of 6:13.25 in the 2V8 preliminary is the fourth-fastest among the eight boats, when combined with the results of Heat 2. Saturday's 2V8 grand final features Wesleyan, Williams, Trinity, Tufts, Colby, and Bates in an all-NESCAC final.
Boat Lineups:
Varsity 8 –
Asher Israel '26 (coxswain),
Gus Shuman '27,
Pierce Buckner-Wolfson '26,
Nelson Bellows '26,
Eli Smirin '26,
Roy Krueger '28,
Sam Penn '28,
Will McNally '27, and
Mac Haines '28
2nd Varsity 8 –
Ben Fischer '27 (coxswain),
Ben Vyzas '28,
Drew Hinton '28,
Jack Cornog '26,
Thomas Jamison '28,
Luke Rowles '29,
Evan Salhanick '27,
Andres Krizan '29, and
Brett Beaman '26
