Gonzaga’s varsity 4 in semis

The Gonzaga University men’s varsity 4 crew advanced to today’s semifinals at the IRA National Championships by winning the team’s heat race on Thursday in Camden, N.J.

The Bulldogs clocked in at 6 minutes, 34.07 seconds over the 2,000-meter Cooper River course, nipping runner-up Wisconsin by .58 seconds. St. Joseph’s (6:40.46) was third.

Gonzaga will be joined by Harvard, Michigan, Wisconsin, Army and St. Joe’s in its semifinal heat.

GU’s freshman 4 finished fifth in their morning heat race and fourth in the afternoon repechage.

In other action, all three Washington Huskies varsity crews advanced into the semifinals.

The Huskies’ varsity 8, junior varsity 8 and varsity 4, all Pacific-10 Conference champions in their events, will vie for a spot in the six-boat Grand Finals.

Washington’s varsity 8 won their heat in 5:42.43, ahead of runner-up Yale (5:44.28).

The junior varsity 8 finished in 5:51.70, outdistancing second-place Princeton, while the varsity 4 (6:22.90) nipped Hobart (6:23.28).

Washington State’s varsity 8 boat finished well off the pace in its heat. The fifth-place Cougars timed in a 7:01.09, nearly 14 seconds behind fourth-place Navy.

Baseball

Lakeside Nine Mile’s Chris Kern drilled a two-run home run in the fifth inning to spark the AA/A All-Stars to a 7-4 win over the 4A-3A All-Stars in a feeder game at Al K. Jackson Field.