SACRAMENTO, California - The Marist Men's Rowing Team Varsity Four opened racing on Friday at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta. Marist competed in the Time Trial for the Varsity Four at 11:30 am PST and then in the a/b/c semi-finals at 4:08 pm PST. Racing took place over a 2000m stretch of Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, CA.
The Marist Varsity Four consisted of Tessa Kurtzman (cox), Will Shockley (stroke), Nicholas Scarano (3), Ryan Tuttle (2), and Charlie Latimer (bow). Marist was seeded with a random draw in bow number 1 of the time trial event, starting just ahead of Georgetown and Jacksonville. The Red Foxes pulled a fantastic piece, placing 2nd overall of 28 crews in the event with a time of 6:12.6 behind Cal at 6:05 and ahead of Penn at 6:13.2. This enabled Marist to progress to the A/B/C semi final number 2 in the afternoon where they were assigned to race Washington, Northeastern, Jacksonville, FIT, and St Joes. In the semi final FIT came out of the gate very strong and Washington was also extremely fast, Marist, in lane 1 right next to Washington, latched onto that crew and refused to let them get away, slowly reeling in FIT over the first 1000m and eventually following UW into the lead of the race with Marist and UW pulling away from the field in the latter half of the race course. Marist made a big move to try and draw even with UW in the closing meters of the race, but a flock of geese in their lane struck the rowers' boat and oars, hindering their progress and stocking their final move. Marist still placed a clear 2nd in the race, in a time of 6:34.7.
This 2nd place result progresses the Marist Four to the grand final on Saturday, where they will race out of lane 5 at 11:30 am PST/ 2:30 pm EST and face Cal, Washington, Harvard, UPenn, and Princeton. This race marks the first time that Marist has progressed to the grand final in this event since 2008 and the first time in the grand final since the modern era of IRA racing began in 2010.
Coach's Comments: "We are super excited for our athletes who had a fantastic set of race pieces today. Our whole crew executed a great time trial this morning and came back with added intensity and execution in the afternoon. We are excited to be racing some of the best crews in the nation tomorrow and are hungry for the challenge!"
WHAT'S NEXT
Marist will race on Saturday, at 11:30 am PST/2:30 pm EST in the Grand Final of the Varsity Four Event, where they will face UW, Cal, Harvard, Princeton, and UPenn.
For more information and life updates as well as information about live race viewing in California or our live stream. Check out the Marist Rowing Website at the Following Link
https://rowmarist.com/coachs-communication/marist-2026-ira-national-championships
