RESULTS  |  IRA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The second-ranked Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing team opened its 2017 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships on Saturday and will have all three of its crews racing for titles on Sunday at Lake Natoma.

The lightweight eight raced twice on Saturday, placing third in the morning heat and missing out on one of the two direct qualifying spots for Sunday's Grand Final. Instead, the Badgers took the long route, winning the afternoon repechage over second-place Georgetown to reach the national title race.

The lightweight four and the lightweight double sculls will also get their chance at a national title on Sunday as both finished second to Stanford in Saturday heats.

In both the four and double sculls, the heat simply served as a race for lanes for Sunday's Grand Final. The four was scheduled to have heats to qualify for the Grand Final, but the schedule changed because the dam at Lake Natoma had to be opened in the afternoon, so racing was compressed.

LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT
No. 1 Stanford, which swept its three different boat races on the day, grabbed an early lead in the first lightweight eight heat of the day. The Badgers started strong, as well, opening in second place over Princeton and Georgetown.

By 500 meters, the same order held, but the field spread out a bit. Stanford led by three-quarters of a length, while UW held a half-length lead over Princeton.

The Tigers began closing on the Badgers and drew even with UW with 800 meters to go.

The Tigers continued the push and went up a half length with 500 meters left.

That would be the finishing order, with Stanford crossing the 2000-meter finish line in 6:30.800 and Princeton second in 6:35.597. Wisconsin (6:38.568) and Georgetown (6:55.378) were relegated to the repechage.

"We got a good start off the line, which we've been seeing," lightweight coach Dusty Mattison said. "The part of the race that we were a little disappointed with was around 1000 meters when Princeton made a move and pushed through to take second away from us.

"It definitely exposed a part of the race that we then really worked on during the rep."

In the rep, the Badgers jumped out early on Georgetown and had open water the Hoyas and the rest of the field, before cruising in for the repechage win and one of the final two spots in Sunday's Grand Final.

"We knew we had a really strong heat and that it was most likely going to be between us and Princeton for that second spot in the Grand Final, so we had planned for (the rep)," Mattison said. "We just worked on really coming within ourselves and staying relaxed and working on making sure we kept that composure during the rep. I thought they did a nice job. When Georgetown started to push a little bit on them, they were able to hold them off and push away. They definitely learned a lot from the heat going into the rep, so that will be good for tomorrow."

LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR
Winner of five of the last six national titles in the lightweight four, the Badgers opened this year's event by finishing second to Stanford.

The Cardinal jumped out to an early lead, with Wisconsin battling Boston University and MIT for second.

Stanford took an open water lead by 600 meters over Wisconsin, who led by the same over third-place MIT.

Those places held the rest of the way, in a race that only served as a race for lanes for Sunday's seven-boat Grand Final.

"In the fours race, we were all the way across the course from Stanford, and had BU right next to us, which did give us a really nice race," Mattison said. "We had a decent race. It was definitely not our best execution, so it will be great tomorrow to be right next to Stanford and BU and feel that energy and execute our strongest race, which we know we still have in us."

LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
In the lightweight double sculls, once again it was Stanford with the win.

The Cardinal took the lead early and never looked back, but the race for second became a see-saw affair through the middle of the race.

The Badgers were second at 750 meters in, but BU moved ahead of the UW by 1000 meters.

The trading continued as UW regained the lead at 1250, then BU recaptured it at 1500 meters.

Wisconsin got the final say, however, making a push over the final 500 meters for second place.

Stanford won in 7:35.032, with the Badgers in second in 7:43.103 and Boston University third in 7:45.173.

"Like the four, kind of a similar thing in the double," Mattison stated. "Tomorrow we will be right between Stanford and BU, so it will be good to have that competition right next to them and have even more of a solid middle 1000.

"We had a really nice start and then the power might have dropped off just a little bit during that middle 1000. A little bit of refocusing will help with that. Then they had an amazing sprint. It will be fun for them to be pushed to elevate their execution of the race."

SUNDAY FINALS
The lightweight double Grand Final opens the final day of the IRA national championships at 10 a.m. (CT).

At 10:50 a.m., the lightweight four goes for its national title.

UW races for the lightweight eight title at 1:40 p.m.

2017 IRA National Championships
Gold River, Calif.
Lake Natoma
June 3, 2017
2000 meters

LIGHTWEIGHT EIGHT
Repechage (Top two to Sunday Grand Final, rest to petite final)
1. Wisconsin, 6:35.690; 2. Georgetown, 6:38.378; 3. MIT, 6:41.277; 4. Tulsa, 6:48.612

Heat 1 (Top two to Sunday Grand Final, rest to repechage)
1. Stanford, 6:30.800; 2. Princeton, 6:35.597; 3. Wisconsin, 6:38.568; 4. Georgetown, 6:55.378

UW Lineup – Coxswain Audrey Dalgarno, Brianna Wynne, Agathe Denis, Grace Joyce, Mirha Girt, Kathryne Ruffalo, Janet Titzler, Alexandra Fochios, Marilyn Garberg

LIGHTWEIGHT FOUR
Heat (For Sunday Grand Final seeding)
1. Stanford, 7:13.484; 2. Wisconsin, 7:18.149; 3. Boston University, 7:22.193; 4. MIT, 7:26.420; 5. Princeton, 7:29.484; 6. Radcliffe, 7:37.214; 7. Tulsa, 7:42.006

UW Lineup - Coxswain Eleanor Martin, Claire Kelley, Brianna Ohm, Ariel Tallo, Payton James

LIGHTWEIGHT DOUBLE SCULLS
Heat (For Sunday Grand Final seeding)
1. Stanford, 7:35.032; 2. Wisconsin, 7:43.103; 3. Boston University, 7:45.173; 4. Princeton, 7:48.965; 5. Radcliffe, 7:55.340; 6. MIT, 8:33.924

UW Lineup – Shannon Lipe, Anna Leach