June 2, 2011
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - For the first time since 1998, Georgetown University's heavyweight crew qualified a varsity eight into the round of 12 for a chance to race in the Grand Finals at the Interscholastic Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.
After missing automatic qualification for the semifinals in the Thursday morning heat, Georgetown's top eight of stroke Matt Stewart, Henry Hoffstot, Ben Holtzmuller, Mike Hennessy, Kyle Textor, Tim Broughton, Chan Mahaney, Mike Blommer and Coxswain Kerri McKie faced Columbia, Stanford, Navy, Penn, and Gonzaga in the afternoon repachage. In the opening salvo, Georgetown kept pace with the field, but by the first 500 meter mark of the race Stanford, Navy and Penn had moved ahead by approximately one boat length with Columbia and Gonzaga trailing the Hoyas by similar margins.
The last 1,000 meters would decide the outcome. Georgetown, needing to secure a top three finish to advance to the semis, set a blistering pace in the third quarter of the race that pulled them even with all three front running crews coming into the last 500 meters. Georgetown sprinted to finish 0.7 seconds in front of Penn to secure the third qualifying spot in a time of 5:38.7, less than a second behind Stanford, who finished in first.
Georgetown will face Yale, Wisconsin, Harvard, Washington, and Stanford in semifinal two, Friday at 12:30 PM. The top three finishers in the race will advance to the Grand Finals to determine the national champion though 6th place, while places four through six will race in Saturday's petite final race to decide this year's seventh through 12th place crews.
Georgetown also qualified its varsity four for the semifinals on Thursday. Stroke Steven Kendall, Chris Ulrich, Jack Devlin, Bill Houston and coxswain Katie Courtin rowed to a victory in their repachage over Stanford, the University of California, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania in a time of 6:19.0.
On Friday, the Hoyas will race in a semifinal against Syracuse, Wisconsin, Washington, Drexel and Temple for a chance to row in the Grand Final on Saturday.
