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Orange Complete IRA Semifinals, Finals Set for Sunday Morning
5/30/2026 4:54:00 PM | Men's Rowing
The Syracuse men's rowing team competed in three semifinal races Saturday at the IRA National Championship on Lake Natoma at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center, with the second varsity eight advancing to Sunday's grand final while the varsity eight and third varsity eight will compete in Sunday's petite finals.
The second varsity eight secured its spot in Sunday's grand final with a third-place finish in a race that saw an unusual interruption. With the field approaching the 1,000-meter mark, officials stopped the race to maintain competitive integrity following interference on the course. After a 17-minute delay, the crews restarted and Syracuse crossed in third at 5:48.350, behind Princeton (5:42.860) and Harvard (5:43.170).
The varsity eight finished fifth in its semifinal with a time of 5:42.830, just 5.25 seconds behind winner Washington (5:37.580). Princeton and Dartmouth claimed the remaining top-three spots to advance to Sunday's grand final, while Syracuse will race in the petite final with Northeastern and Yale.
The third varsity eight finished sixth in its semifinal with a time of 5:58.050, 12.14 seconds back of winner Harvard (5:45.910), and will also compete in Sunday's petite final.
Capping Saturday's racing, the varsity four closed out competition with a second-place finish in the petite final, clocking a time of 6:35.920 — just 0.44 seconds behind winner Boston (6:35.480) — to place eighth overall in the country.
Syracuse returns to the water Sunday with three races on the schedule. The third varsity eight opens the day in the petite final at 9:38 a.m. (12:38 p.m. ET) from lane 6 against Dartmouth, Northeastern, Boston University, Penn and Stanford. The second varsity eight grand final is scheduled for 11:08 a.m. (2:08 p.m. ET). Syracuse will start in lane 6 against Washington, Princeton, Cal, Harvard and Brown. The varsity eight closes out the Orange's championship weekend in the petite final at 11:56 a.m. (2:56 p.m. ET) from lane 3 against Northeastern, Penn, Brown, Yale and Boston University.Â
Fans watching from home can follow the action live on overnght.com or by checking the live results here.Â
For more on the Orange, follow @cusemrowing on social media.
