Gold River, Calif. -- The Fairfield University men's rowing varsity 4 continued its strong run during its two-day stay at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championships, reaching the C final which determines 13th through 18th places. The C final takes place on Sunday.
Fairfield opened the event with its heat race, taking fifth place with a time of 6:53.87. Marietta won the race by crossing the finish line in 6:38.13, followed by Holy Cross (6:42.08), Cornell (6:50.14), and Columbia (6:52.35). Gonzaga rounded out the heat with its time of 6:56.79.
That performance sent the Stags to a repechage race which ended up putting the Stags fourth behind Brown (6:46.08), Wisconsin (6:49.57), and Colgate (6:54.43). Fairfield was next in line as it ended the run in 7:02.51.
Next up on the docket was a semifinal matchup that saw the Stags face Holy Cross and Columbia for the second time at the IRAs. In this edition, Holy Cross crossed the line in first place with a mark of 6:31.29, while Columbia and Fairfield battled to the very end before the Lions (6:35.870) edged the Stags (6:35.875) by a fraction of a second. Gonzaga took fourth place in the race nearly nine seconds off Fairfield's pace.
The C final takes place on Sunday with the field including Penn, Columbia, Colgate, Holy Cross, Oregon State, and Fairfield.
The varsity 4 crew included John Imor, Lars Erickson, Casey Fuller, William Quentin, and coxswain Matt Marshall.
