SACRAMENTO, Calif. – At the Western Sprints on Saturday, Santa Clara men's rowing qualified for the IRA National Championships with their V4 boat. It is the fourth year in a row the Broncos will send a boat to IRAs.

"Our Varsity 4 has qualified for the IRA Regatta and we plan to take our top four rowers and top coxswain to Lake Mercer in New Jersey at the end of May to compete for the national championship," Santa Clara head coach Jay Farwell said. "We should have a very competitive Varsity 4 and I am looking to end the year on a positive note with further development of our rowers for the 2019 campaign."

The Broncos Varsity 4 finished second with a time of 7:08.9.

"The Varsity 4 took second and was comprised of four freshmen (including coxswain Martin London) and sophomore Parker Johnson," Farwell said. "They had a solid performance and there has been significant development of their rowing ability this year. We look forward to having this group back next year and contributing to the speed of the 8s."

The 2V8 boat finished second, just 0.2 seconds behind UC Santa Diego.

"Our 2nd Varsity 8 had a tremendous race," Farwell said. "It was the race of the weekend in that the margin of victory was 0.2 seconds or about two feet between SCU and UCSD. It was a stroke for stroke battle during the last 300 meters of the race. UCSD came out on top but we certainly closed the gap between the two boats over the last two months. This boat is also a very young boat with no seniors so we look forward to the return of the entire boat for the 2019 season."

The V8 came in third behind UC San Diego and San Diego due to an equipment malfunction.

"For IRA qualifications for the 8s, the Varsity 8 needs to finish first or second," Farwell said. "Our Varsity 8 finished third due to an equipment malfunction at the start of the race. We had beaten both UCSD and USD on two separate occasions prior to Western Sprints. It was a devastating result for a Varsity 8 that has really performed well over the Spring racing season. We had a number of upperclassmen from our Varsity 8 last year that did not return this year and a number of sophomores really stepped up to fill their seats. Our Varsity 8 only has one senior in it (Chris Szigeti) and we look forward to the return of the rest of the boat for the 2019 season. To lose a race of this importance due to an equipment malfunction really leaves us wondering what if. It was just one of those moments that we hope everyone will learn from. We have had a few moments (on and off the water) that this team needs to learn from." 

The 3V8 also came in third behind UC San Diego and Gonzaga.

"The 3rd Varsity 8 took third behind UCSD and Gonzaga," Farwell said. "This was a relatively young boat with a few walk-ons who have come a long way over the course of the season. I thought this boat gave a great effort and it was the last race for seniors Nick Cisneros and Matt Rote. A bittersweet way to end their rowing careers at SCU but I am really proud of the effort and commitment over the last four years."

The Broncos are back on the water at IRAs June 1-3 in New Jersey.

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