Varsity Four Captures Silver as Dartmouth Enjoys Strong Saturday at IRA National Championship

Photo by: Justin Lafleur

Varsity Four Captures Silver as Dartmouth Enjoys Strong Saturday at IRA National Championship

6/1/2024 6:05:00 PM | Men's Heavyweight Rowing

The Big Green have earned a medal at nationals in four straight years

By: Justin Lafleur

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The varsity four took silver on Saturday to highlight a strong Saturday for the Dartmouth men's heavyweight rowing team at the IRA National Championship. It marked the second straight season the Big Green four has medaled at IRAs, after capturing bronze last season, and fourth straight Dartmouth had a medal in at least one event at nationals. The Big Green are also sending their second and third varsity eights to the grand finals for a second straight year, following strong semifinal showings on Saturday.

The story for the Big Green Saturday was their varsity four, which finished in second place in the grand final behind only Washington.

"It feels great," said junior Jasper Gleeson, who was in the three seat. "It's been a long year of work. We were really excited to line up against some of the fastest crews in the country. It's a privilege to be able to compete at the national level; we don't take it for granted and we're really grateful.

"All credit to our coaches, all credit to our teammates, and the parents as well," Gleeson continued. "None of this would be possible without them.

Sophomore Tom Thomas was also on the varsity four crew that won bronze last season. This year, the Big Green posted a time of 6:17.432, behind Washington's 6:15.019 and ahead of third-place Florida Tech's 6:19.146. Dartmouth also beat Colgate, California and Brown.

"The guys on our crew are experienced at the start," said junior Michael Curry, who was in the two seat. "We got off clean and quickly got to our base rhythm. That's the Dartmouth Big Green style. I think we just crept through most of the race until we put ourselves in position to get a result that we wanted and that we're happy with."

Check out the final strokes from the varsity four's second-place finish in today's grand final to earn a silver medal! 🥈#TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/d4ivTgIWPH
— Dartmouth Men's Heavyweight Rowing (@BigGreenHeavies) June 2, 2024

Earlier in the morning, Dartmouth's second and third varsity eights each took third place in their semifinals to qualify for the grand finals, both besting Ivy League rival Yale in the process. It began with the 2V making a late push to beat the Bulldogs for third place by just under two seconds (5:41.784 to Yale's 5:43.541). Dartmouth was just over a half second behind California (5:31.154) and just over two seconds behind Washington (5:39.111).

The 3V followed by taking third with a time of 5:44.991, just over two seconds ahead of Yale in fourth (5:47.221), Syracuse in fifth (5:48.151) and Cornell in sixth (6:00.835).

The varsity eight began the morning by placing sixth in its semifinal, posting a time of 5:39.869. Washington won the semifinal with a time of 5:28.702. The Big Green 1V will row in the petite final Saturday morning.

Sunday's racing begins at 9:40 a.m. with the 3V grand final, followed by the 2V grand final at 10:10 a.m. and varsity eight petite final at 10:50.

Varsity Eight
Semifinal 1
1. Washington — 5:28.702
2. Princeton — 5:29.145
3. Yale — 5:30.112
4. Brown — 5:33.652
5. Boston University — 5:38.265
6. Dartmouth — 5:39.869

Lineup
Coxswain: Sammy Houdaigui
8: Stephen Warming
7: James Isles
6: Julian Thomas
5: Miles Hudgins
4: Felix Rawlinson
3: Munroe Robinson
2: Jacob Hudgins
1: James Frederikson

Second Varsity Eight
Semifinal 1
1. Washington — 5:39.111
2. California — 5:41.154
3. Dartmouth — 5:41.784
4. Yale — 5:43.541
5. Boston University — 5:45.894
6. Penn — 5:54.784

Lineup
Coxswain: Conor Shaheen
8: Nirav Tomasi
7: Luke Marshall
6: Billy Lockhart
5: Colin Glew
4: James Wlodarczak
3: Paul Waxman
2: Albie Oliver
1: JJ Dubois

Third Varsity Eight
Semifinal 1
1. Washington — 5:40.471
2. Brown — 5:43.248
3. Dartmouth — 5:44.991
4. Yale — 5:47.221
5. Syracuse — 5:48.151
6. Cornell — 6:00.835

Lineup
Coxswain: Pia Alexander
8: Ollie Ellis
7: Will Kalikman
6: Guy Jones
5: Thomas Harrison
4: Asa Dow
3: Isaac Lawrence
2: Matthew Johnston
1: Jack Taylor

Varsity Four
Grand Final
1. Washington — 6:15.019
2. Dartmouth — 6:17.432
3. FIT — 6:19.146
4. Colgate — 6:22.286
5. California — 6:22.356
6. Brown — 6:25.976

Lineup
Coxswain: Skyler Rockmael
4: Francesco Dembinski
3: Jasper Gleeson
2: Michael Curry
1: Tom Thomas