ACRA Race Report: Day 1
Four Fighting Illini Crews are racing in the ACRA National Championship. The first day of racing has concluded, with two crews advancing to Grand Finals tomorrow.Illini racing started with the Novice Men's 8+ heat. The Novice Men raced in a tough heat and failed to get a foothold in the race. They fell to 7th place in the heat (top-3 advance directly to Finals), and were relegated to the repechage. In the 5-boat repechage, Novice Men needed to place first to advance to the Finals. The Illini struggled to find their tempo again and finished 4th, advancing to the B Finals on Sunday morning.The Varsity Women's 4+ also drew a tough heat. After a quick start that put them into the lead, they fell back after a challenge from an adjacent crew. They slipped to 4th as the fought to regain composure, before collecting themselves for a final sprint. They managed to close the two-boat distance to 3rd, but were unable to complete the comeback, finishing 4th. As a result, they advanced to the repechage. In the repechage, they again jumped to an early lead but this time took control of the race. They open the lead to two-boats open water by the 1000m mark, and continued to walk away from the pack. The Varsity Women's 4+ finished well ahead of the pack, rowing a very comfortable 31 spm across the line. The Varsity Women's win earned them a spot in the Grand Finals Sunday afternoon.The Novice Women's 8+ raced for lanes in tomorrow's Grand Finals. The Novice Women were tied with Murray State for third until the 500m to go mark when they managed to pull away and open up a lead to take 3rd in their heat. The Novice Women finished with the 4th fastest time in their event, priming them for tomorrow's Grand Final.The Varsity Men's 8+ had a rocky heat early in the day, but managed to finish 5th in their heat behind Cincinnati (3 to advance direct to semi-finals). In the afternoon, they raced a repechage, needing to finish top-2 in the race to advance to the semi-finals. In their repechage, Minnesota jumped to an early lead, while Illinois and Pittsburgh moved away from the rest of the field. Illinois and Pitt were even at the 1000m, when Pitt pulled to a slight lead. Illinois began to close the lead around the 1600m mark, but Pitt countered with their own move. Despite having a great race, the Illini finished 3rd narrowly missing the Finals. Southern California and Cincinnati advanced to the Semi-Finals in the other repechage with slower times than Illinois, but well up on their competition. The Varsity 8+ will row in the C Finals tomorrow morning hoping to secure a National Top-20 finish.The Varsity Men's 8+ will row first tomorrow at 9:03am. The Novice Women's 8+ Grand Final will race at 9:45am, followed later by the Novice Men's 8+ B Final at 11:38am. The Varsity Women's 4+ Grand Final will cap the day for the Illini at 12:15pm.