June 2, 2011

IRA Championships Central

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's lightweight women's crew will open defense of its 2010 national title Friday morning at the IRA National Championships Regatta in Cherry Hill, N.J. Both boats, the i Eight and Four, will compete at the event.

The I Eight, which captured the WIRA title in May, will lead off the day's racing at 5:30 a.m. PT (8:30 a.m. ET). The second-ranked Cardinal last saw the first- and third-ranked crews, Princeton and Wisconsin, in March at the Pac-10 Women's Challenge where they fell to Tigers by 10 seconds but defeated the Badgers by over five seconds. They will look to place in the top two of the heat and advance to Saturday's grand final to defend their 2010 IRA title.

The Four will then race their heat at 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET) The Cardinal Four won the Pacific Coast Rowing Championship in the three weeks ago at Lake Natoma. They will take on six other crews, including last year's IRA Champions from Loyola Maryland, in an effort to qualify for Saturday's grand final.

"We're excited to get this championship underway. The racing on Friday will give us a good opportunity to nail down our first solid race in what seems like a long while," said lightweight rowing head coach Al Acosta. "We have a lot of experienced and proven rowers on our team, so they will be ready to go when the flag drops."

All races will be broadcast live online. You can follow the Cardinal in real time here.