Gazette-Times

The Oregon State men's crew team will begin competition today at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships at Lake Notoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif.

The IRAs are considered the national championships of men's crew, as the NCAA does not sponsor a men's championship regatta.

The Varsity 8 boat will race No. 1 California, No. 17 Princeton, No. 9 Northeastern, and No. 8 Cornell at 8 a.m. today in its first race. The top two finishers advance to the seimfinals; the others drop to repechages this afternoon.

The Freshman 8 is seeded 15th and will race Harvard (3), California (4), Syracuse (9), Navy (10), and Gonzaga (16) at 9:36 a.m. today.

The winner advances to the finals; the others drop into the repechages on Friday.

The Open 4 races California, Cornell, George Washington, MIT, and Wisconsin at 10:12 a.m. The winner advances to the finals, the other boats drop into Friday's repechages.

OSU IRA lineups

VARSITY 8: Cox Beth Olsen; S Robby Ewing; 7 Will Gustafson; 6 Ian George; 5 Mike Buckiewicz; 4 Rob Hannah; 3 Campbell Woods; 2 David Weir; B Bronson Shafer.

FRESHMAN 8: Cox Dan Thompson; S Chad Swenson; 7 Spencer Robertson; 6 John Gallion; 5 Rory O'Byrne; 4 Wyatt Worrel; 3 Andrew Read; 2 Pat Kohan; B Trevor Carey.

OPEN 4: Cox Stefan Evano; S Joe Wainwright; 3 Marcus Timo; 2 Kenneth Walker; B Sam Schwartz