CAMDEN, N.J. – The opening day of the 122nd running of the IRA National Championship drew flocks of spectators to the banks of the Cooper River as preliminary racing commenced. While the awards ceremony and medal presentations will follow the conclusion of Sunday's racing, Friday morning's heats served as a winnowing of crews from the best programs around the country, sending the top finishers to Sunday's Grand Final and the rest to the Petite Final. 

2V
 
The JV heat featured a four-way dogfight for just three spots in Sunday's Grand Final. Coming in with a bronze medal from the Eastern Sprints Championship just two weeks ago, the No. 3 seeded Bulldogs locked into their stake boat at 8:08 a.m. next to No. 2 Penn, No. 7 Georgetown and No. 8 Dartmouth.

Penn erupted off the line and owned half a length on the field by the time the crews passed the 150m mark; that margin continued to grow until the Quakers enjoyed open water before the halfway mark. Behind them, Georgetown, Dartmouth, and Yale shuffled positions with every set of buoys. Georgetown drew first blood at 500 meters, edging to a deck over the Bulldogs while Dartmouth crept up on both shells. At 1000m in, the Bulldog JV crew found themselves in fourth place—just behind the cutoff for qualification for the Grand Final. Yet, the Bulldogs' base rhythm was sound; the third 500m never saw more than two seats' margin between Dartmouth, Yale, and Georgetown.

At 1750m, the Yale JV provided further evidence of their growing late-game prowess, clawing through Georgetown and remaining even with Dartmouth. The Hoyas answered back just 50 meters later, and the three crews charged through the final 100m mark, all rating north of 40 strokes per minute. While Penn finished first with a time of 5:49.12, the remaining trio's finishes were too close to call by sight. Official times later revealed that Dartmouth took second with a time of 5:52.76, with Yale close behind at 5:52.94, and Georgetown finishing fourth at 5:53.01.

With this result, the Bulldogs will now compete for the national title in the Sunday Grand Final at 10:10 a.m. against Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn and Columbia.
 
1V

Similar to the JV heat, the 8:48 a.m. varsity eight heat offered just three spots for advancement to the Grand Final. The No. 9 seeded Bulldogs were up against No. 1 Harvard, No. 5 Dartmouth, No. 6 MIT and No. 10 Columbia.

Yale matched the field through the first dozen strokes, yet by 300 meters Harvard had taken three seats on Dartmouth, with MIT riding just inside that wake; the Bulldogs and Columbia remained locked together a few seats farther back. At 500 meters, the order had solidified: Harvard half a length on Dartmouth; Dartmouth a length on MIT; MIT half a length on Yale, who now held an open water advantage on Columbia.

Through the second 500 meters, Harvard solidified its lead while Dartmouth rode steady in second. The halfway point saw the Bulldogs trim a few seats off MIT's lead, but at 1500m, MIT launched a move that took a full length over the Bulldogs while simultaneously reeling in Dartmouth. With 300 meters to go, Harvard, Dartmouth, and MIT surged ahead, and the Elis could not reclaim contact.

The finish line saw Harvard come first with a time of 5:39.84, followed by Dartmouth at 5:42.91, MIT at 5:43.11, Yale at 5:47.55 and Columbia at 6:01.33. The Yale varsity eight will compete in the 11:20 a.m. Petite Final on Sunday against Georgetown and Columbia. 
 
All varsity and JV lightweight athletes will now prepare to weigh in once more on Saturday. Sunday's live-streamed races can be viewed here. The results will be posted here. 
 
Here is the schedule for Sunday's racing:
10:10 a.m. 2V Grand Final
11:20 a.m. 1V Petite Final 
 
Below are the Yale lineups:
 
1V
Cox      Magdalena Moore / Winthrop, Wash.
Stroke  Fielding Staelin / Nashville, Tenn.
7           Timmy Parsons / Eugene, Ore.
6           Andrew Kasparyan / Southborough, Mass.
5           Finlay Murray / London, England
4           Cassin Edgar-Smith / Barrington, R.I
3           Max Blacksten / McLean, Va.
2           Dylan Oberst / Greenwich, Conn.
Bow     Ago Ghiso / Chicago, Ill.
 
2V
Cox       Jackie Weyerhaeuser / Minneapolis, Min.
Stroke   Ryan Vaughn / Moraga, Calif.
7           Andrew Griesinger / Princeton, N.J.
6           Will Konopka / Philadelphia, Penn
5           Ry Natterson / Los Angeles, Calif.
4           Raph Clark / South Hamilton, Mass.
3           Nolan Kaputa / Princeton, N.J
2           Asher Patent / Chicago, Ill.
Bow     John Cahill / Los Angeles, Calif.