WEST WINDSOR, N.J. —  The Cornell men's heavyweight rowing team was unable to clinch its spot in the A' Finals of the Kennedy Challenge Bowl (2V8+) and the Steward's Cup (3V8+) on Saturday morning, placing sixth out of six crews in their respective semifinal races on the second day of the 2024 IRA National Championship on Mercer Lake.

With the sixth-place finishes, the 2V8+ and 3V8+ crews will race in the 'B' Finals on Sunday morning to conclude this year's IRA National Championship.

Princeton (2V8+) and Washington (3V8+) each logged wire-to-wire victories winning both races by two-plus seconds over Brown, which placed second in both races. Cornell finished the 2V8+ race with a time of 5:59.849, while the 3V8+ crew clocked a 6:00.835 clip.

In the final varsity eight race of the day for Cornell, the Big Red's 1V8+ held onto a bow-to-bow lead over the first 1500 meters in the fourth 1V8+ semifinal, but a strong push utilized by Navy over the final 500 meters enabled the Midshipmen to register a victory of 65-hundredths of a second over the Big Red. Navy clocked a time of 5:44.417 just ahead of the Big Red's 5:45.070.

By placing at least third in its 1V8+ semifinal, Cornell earned a spot in Sunday's 'C' Final, alongside Navy and Georgetown, who finished third behind Cornell by 3.25 seconds in Saturday morning's semifinal.

Racing in the 'D' Final, Cornell's lone varsity four entry rounded out the Big Red's four-event day by posting a third-place finish with a time of 6:37.627, just behind Stanford (6:33.354) and La Salle (6:35.987).

RESULTS
1V8+ SEMIFINAL #4:
1. Navy — 5:44.417
2. Cornell — 5:45.070
3. Georgetown — 5.48.320
4. Wisconsin — 5:48.487
5. UC San Diego — 5:51.173
6. MIT — 5:52.063

2V8+ SEMIFINAL #2:
1. Princeton — 5:39.979
2. Brown — 5:42.239
3. Harvard — 5:42.976
4. Northeastern — 5:49.756
5. Syracuse ‚— 5:50.293
6. Cornell — 5:59.849

3V8+ SEMIFINAL #1:
1. Washington — 5:40.471
2. Brown — 5:43.248
3. Dartmouth — 5:44.991
4. Yale — 5:47.221
5. Syracuse — 5:48.151
6. Cornell — 6:00.835

1V4+ 'D' FINAL:
1. Stanford — 6:33.354
2. La Salle — 6:35.987
3. Cornell — 6:37.627
4. Adrian — 6:44.017
5. Northeastern — 6:47.351
6. Marist — 6:47.594

BOATINGS
1V8+: Topher Luzarraga (coxswain), Adam Campaign (stroke), Finn Lynch, Jake Lawson, Tony Klar, Tucker Poff, Ethan Waxman, Thomas Kunkler, Kyle Howe (bow).

2V8+: J. Maxwell Zirkman (coxswain), Joe Welling (stroke), Walid Ghamra, Paul Stone, Harrison Sremac, Geoffrey Miller, Charlie Bierden, Ben Aquilinia-Piscitello, Alex Bloom (bow).

3V8+: Abbey Charlamb (coxswain), Marko Djuranovic (stroke), Jackson Stone, Robert Walker, Constantino Oberto Calleri, Luke Brust, Zachary Vorrath, Abe Litvak, Christiaan Eikeboom (bow).

1V4+: Sofie Cole (coxswain), Iason Diogenous (stroke), Mark Krneta, Henry Joyner, Nicholas Hebard (bow).

A LOOK UPSTREAM
Two of Cornell's three varsity entries will row in the 'B' Finals on Sunday to conclude the 2024 IRA National Championship, while the Big Red's 1V8+ crew will participate in the 'C' Final.

The 1V8+ will be the first Big Red crew to launch on Sunday, scheduled for a 9:20 start against Drexel, Columbia, Navy, La Salle, and Georgetown.

A half-hour later, Cornell's 3V8+ crew will have its event begin, racing out of the first lane against Northeastern, Yale, Boston University, Syracuse, and Penn. Immediately following, the 2V8+ will race in its 'B' Final against Boston University, Northeastern, Yale, Syracuse, and Penn at 10 a.m.

All races will be streamed live on Overnght, which can be viewed for free with a creation of an account.