MERCER, N.J.- The Jacksonville men's rowing team completed a competitive first day at the IRA National Championships that sees them qualify for the petite final on Saturday afternoon.

"The effort today was really good," said head coach Preston Weinard. "I think in the time-trial you're more so out on your own because you can see some of the gaps between all of the boats around you. We got matched with Holy Cross which I think was good for the both of us to push each other for a faster time. There's still more that we can do to get better but the more reps this boat has together the better they get. I'm excited to max out the output that they put together and I know they're excited too. But overall, I'm excited, the effort was really good. We have a young boat and they're excited to compete against some of the best."

With the Varsity Four being the lone JU boat at the IRA's, the Dolphins worked hard on their craft in preparation of the men's rowing national championships. Taking off in the time-trials first, JU was competing against some of the fastest boats in the country. Jacksonville finished just outside the top 10 by less than one second against Harvard with a time of 6:29.899. Still, the Dolphins beat out 22 other boats and finished ahead of boats from Stetson, Syracuse, Princeton, Boston and Pennsylvania.

Typically, the semi-final would've taken place later this afternoon. However, a lightning delay originally pushed back the semi-final to later in the day. The Dolphins were gearing up for their respected semi-final when they were alerted that the rest of the day would be canceled due to heat. Thus meaning that the  time-trials would directly place boats into their respected finals. Places 1-6 in the time-trial will compete in the grand final tomorrow, with the Dolphins placing 11th, they will be in the petite final on Saturday.

"I hope to see another gear come Saturday," said Weinard. "I hope to see something a little bit further into the dark place that we may have not been in yet. We may have not been there as a team or as individuals yet but I want to see them go somewhere that is scary and maybe a little dangerous but it's the next level of racing."

The Dolphins now look on to their respected final, where they will race boats with a great pedigree, including, Washington, Holy Cross, Brown, Harvard and Stetson. The race is set for 9:54 tomorrow morning.

"I just want to give a quick shoutout to all the coaches and teams that are going through this pivot with us," said Weinard. "This isn't how we wanted the weekend to go down but any chance we have to race these teams and race at the IRA's is a great opportunity that we don't take lightly."

To view the full results and schedule, click here.