PENNSAUKEN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Cornell men's heavyweight rowing 3V8 and 1V4 crews both advanced to the ABC semifinals on the first day of racing at the 2025 IRA National Championship held on the Cooper River on Friday.

In the final of four 3V8 heats on the day, Princeton established an early half-second lead over Yale in the opening 500 meters. However, the Bulldogs recorded the fastest 500-meter segment of the race (1:22.865), allowing them to take the lead at the halfway mark and secure a 4.98-second victory over Princeton. Cornell finished 7.82 seconds behind Yale with a time of 5:50.390, achieving the second-fastest time by a Big Red varsity eight crew on the day. Wisconsin placed fourth with a time of 5:54.760.

With the third-place finish, Cornell advanced to the ABC semifinals in the 3V8, where it will compete against Dartmouth, Harvard, Northeastern, Syracuse, and Yale on Saturday at 9:12 a.m.

Cornell's only varsity four entry finished in 16th place in the 1V4+ time trial, securing the Big Red's position in the ABC semifinals. With a time of 6:14.380, the Big Red were 1.365 seconds behind Drexel and edged out Brown by 402-thousandths of a second. Oklahoma City completed the 18-team field for the ABC semifinals with a time of 6:17.876. Washington recorded the fastest time, being the only crew to achieve a sub-6-minute time (5:59.438), finishing 3.2 seconds ahead of California.

Returning to the water for the afternoon session, Cornell competed in the final of three ABC semifinals in the 1V4, finishing last among six crews with a time of 6:33.760. Harvard secured a wire-to-wire victory, finishing 0.84 seconds ahead of Penn and 0.99 seconds faster than Dartmouth. Also finishing before the Big Red were Drexel (6:26.470) and Florida Tech (6:30.980).

After finishing sixth in the semifinals, Cornell will compete against Florida Tech, Marist, Oklahoma City, Stanford, and Stetson in Saturday's 1V4 'C' Final at 10:32 a.m.

Kicking off Cornell's trio of varsity eight heats was its 1V8 crew, which finished fourth behind Harvard, Yale, and Syracuse. The Big Red had a strong first 1000 meters, crossing the 500- and 1,000-meter marks in third place, but Syracuse recorded the fastest time between the 1000 and 1,500-meter marks (1:26.613), propelling the Orange past Cornell on their way to its third-place finish.

Harvard sailed to victory in the third of four 2V8 heats, finishing ahead of Syracuse by 3.49 seconds and Northeastern by 5.96 seconds. Cornell placed fourth with a time of 5:55.400, finishing ahead of Georgetown by 2.72 seconds.

Both of Cornell's 1V8 and 2V8 crews will compete in the CD semifinals on Saturday, racing at 9:20 a.m. and 9:36 a.m., respectively.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
1V8+ Heat No. 3 — 1. Harvard (5:35.050); 2. Yale (5:36.060); 3. Syracuse (5:39.560); 4. Cornell (5:45.030); 5. Oregon State (5:55.040); 6. UC San Diego (6:03.950).

2V8+ Heat No. 3 — 1. Harvard (5:38.210); 2. Syracuse (5:41.700); 3. Northeastern (5:44.170); 4. Cornell (5:55.400); 5. Georgetown (5:58.120); 6. UC San Diego (5:59.970).

3V8+ Heat No. 4 — 1. Yale (5:42.570); 2. Princeton (5:47.550); 3. Cornell (5:50.390); 4. Wisconsin (5:54.760).

1V4+ Time Trial — 1. Washington (5:59.438); 2. California (6:02.638); 3. Penn (6:06.798); 4. Dartmouth (6:08.305); 5. San Diego (6:09.395); 6. Syracuse (6:09.692); 7. Princeton (6:10.356); 8. Saint Joseph's (6:10.504); 9. Harvard (6:10.813); 10. Florida Tech (6:10.943); 11. Marist (6:11.106); 12. Jacksonville (6:11.316); 13. Stanford (6:12.407); 14. Stetson (6:12.696); 15. Drexel (6:13.015); 16. Cornell (6:14.380); 17. Brown (6:14.782); 18. Oklahoma City (6:17.876); 19. Northeastern (6:18.517); 20. Boston University (6:18.702); 21. Colgate (6:20.083); 22. Wisconsin (6:20.126); 23. MIT (6:20.310); 24. Coast Guard (6:22.037); 25. Tufts (6:22.853); 26. Loyola (6:23.138); 27. MSOE (6:24.197); 28. Williams (6:26.675); 29. Holy Cross (6:27.724); 30. Trinity (6:28.358); 31. Catholic (6:30.893); 32. Iona (6:32.159); 33. Bates (6:32.340); 34. Georgetown (6:32.418); 35. Marietta (6:35.185); 36. Mercyhurst (6:35.555); 37. Colby (6:39.633); 38. RIT (6:52.353); 39. Massachusetts Maritime (7:13.807).

1V4+ Semifinal ABC — 1. Harvard (6:18.920); 2. Penn (6:19.760); 3. Dartmouth (6:19.910); 4. Drexel (6:26.470); 5. Florida Tech (6:30.980); 6. Cornell (6:33.760).

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE
Subject to change
9:12 a.m. — 3V8+ Semifinal AB: Northeastern (Lane 1), Dartmouth (Lane 2), Yale (Lane 3), Harvard (Lane 4), Syracuse (Lane 5), Cornell (Lane 6)

9:20 a.m. — 1V8+ Semifinal CD: Gonzaga (Lane 1), Boston University (Lane 2), La Salle (Lane 3), Cornell (Lane 4), Georgetown (Lane 5), UC San Diego (Lane 6)

9:36 a.m. — 2V8+ Semifinal CD: Gonzaga (Lane 1), Oregon State (Lane 2), La Salle (Lane 3), Cornell (Lane 4), Temple (Lane 5), UC San Diego (Lane 6)

10:32 a.m. — 1V4+ 'C' Final: Cornell (Lane 1), Stetson (Lane 2), Stanford (Lane 3), Marist (Lane 4), Florida Tech (Lane 5), Oklahoma City (Lane 6).

BOATINGS
1V8: Jack Walker (coxswain), Matteo Banducci (stroke), Iasonas Exarchou, Geoffrey Miller, Tony Klar, Paul Stone, Walid Ghamra, Thomas Kunkler, Christiaan Eikeboom (bow).

2V8: Abbey Charlamb (coxswain), Luke Brust (stroke), Zachary Vorrath, Joost Schirm, Ward Dobeck, Finn Hayes, Constantino Oberto-Calleri, Joe Savell, Liam Ardrey (bow).

3V8: Sofie Cole (coxswain), Abe Litvak (stroke), Johnnie Moriarty, Nicholas Hebard, Zachary Kano, Bennett Dodge, Xavier Wendt, Veeran Dhaliwal, Michael Goodall (bow).

1V4: Danielle Unson (coxswain), Morley Pendred (stroke), Harrison Sremac, Robert Walker, Iason Diogenous (bow).