THE BASICS:

• Regatta: IRA National Championship
• Date: Friday, May 29, 2015
• Location: West Windsor, N.J. (Mercer Lake)
• The Lead: The Holy Cross men's rowing team competed in the first day of the 113th Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship on Friday on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The No. 18 nationally ranked varsity eight placed fifth in its opening heat out of six boats with a time of 6:06.990 as the Crusaders defeated Oklahoma City University (6:22.715). No. 2 California won with a time of 5:51.813. The Crusaders (5:57.979) then placed third in the repechage out of four boats. The Crusaders defeated Santa Clara (6:21.288), while No. 12 Cornell (5:48.174) was first and No. 14 Stanford (5:52.998) was second. The varsity eight will now compete in the No. 3 semifinal on Saturday, May 30 at 10:48 a.m.
• The second varsity eight placed sixth in its heat out of six boats with a time of 6:39.861. Boston University won with a time of 5:56.966. The Crusaders (6:30.864) were then fourth in the repechage out of four boats. The Crusaders will compete in the No. 3 semifinal on Saturday at 11:12 a.m.  
• The third varsity eight was fifth in its heat out of five boats with a time of 6:39.056. Washington won with a time of 6:05.961. The Crusaders (6:24.188) then were fifth in the repechage out of six boats as they defeated Hobart (6:32.724). The Crusaders will compete in the third-level final on Sunday, May 31, at 9:36 a.m.

THE LINEUPS:

• Holy Cross Varsity Eight: J.T. Kearney (Coxswain), Vince LaMonte, T.J. Watts, Sam Poryanda, John Burke, Andrew McNamara, John Tanis, Anthony Criscitiello, Connor May.
• Holy Cross Second Varsity Eight: Christian Brooks (Coxswain), Jon Bachmann, Luke Graham, Christian Kerrigan, James Holland, Sean Horan, Keenan Moore, Joe Nolan, Tiarnan Doherty.
• Holy Cross Third Varsity Eight: Cally Hickey (Coxswain), Casey Norton, Chris Paul, Chris Mudrick, Zack Zaniewski, Brian Latu, Ted Langlois, Will Callif, Kyle Larkin.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders will compete on the second day of the IRA National Championship on Saturday, May 30. The varsity eight will compete in the No. 3 semifinal at 10:48 a.m. and the second varsity eight will be in the No. 3 semifinal at 11:12 a.m.

KEEP CONNECTED:

• You can stay connected with the Holy Cross men's rowing team by following the Crusaders on Twitter @HCrossMRowing. You can also get the latest news and results on the team sent directly to your e-mail. To sign up for e-mail alerts go here: http://www.goholycross.com/list-signup.