GOLD RIVER, Calif. — The Gonzaga men's rowing team competed in the first day at the WIRA Championships today to advance to the finals tomorrow. 

In the V8 race, the Bulldogs took second out of five boats with a time of 6:03.236, only behind Santa Clara's 5:58.443 time. 

The Novice 4+ boat finished third in their heat to advance to the petite final with a time of 7:43.355 out of seven teams. USC took first in 7:18.192. 

The boat then raced in the final heat and finished second with a time of 7:51.545, only behind University of California Irvine, which finished in 7:46.836. 

The 2V8 boat did not compete today, but will race in the final tomorrow at 8:50 a.m. The varsity boat will also race again tomorrow at 8:10 a.m.

"The Varsity 8 was second in their heat and made the final, but they need to do a better job executing in the first thousand if they want to be in the hunt tomorrow," head coach Dan Gehn said. "The Novice 4 had a great run and finished second in the petite final and 9th out of 25 entries."

LINEUPS

V8
Cox Gabrielle Sabatini
Stroke Nicholas Kittleman
7 Joey Moore
6 Aidan McCarthy
5 Lucas Abeln
4 Aidan Smith
3 Jeremiah Guest
2 Michael Powers
Bow Jack Githens

JV8
Cox Gabrielle Sabatini
Stroke Matt Simmons
7 Tyler Smith
6 Andrew Lof
5 Garrett Urvater
4 Kendall Peter
3 Jack Hare
2 Anders Svenningsen
Bow Owen Kirby

Novice 4
Cox Alex Baum
Stroke Dominick Scarola
3 Nehemiah Hires
2 Joe Sweeney
Bow Austin Thompson