Elis Win 3rd Straight Sprints, Take Rowe Cup
VIDEO
WORCESTER, Mass. – School athletics history was made today on rough water 90 minutes from New Haven, and the Yale men's heavyweight varsity eight had a unique three-peat today on Lake Quinsigamond. For the first time in the history of the heavyweight rowing program, the Bulldogs have won three straight EARC Sprints Championships.
That remarkable accomplishment was completed in the last race of the day. The No. 1 seed Elis, who have won 16 straight dual sprints races, edged second seed Harvard by less than half a second, one of the closest races in Sprints history.
Overall, Yale had a gold, two silvers and a second place in the petite final. That combined success gave the Bulldogs their third Rowe Cup for overall supremacy at the Sprints and the first since 1979. It was a day of close finishes in grand finals, and the race for the Rowe was just as tight. Heading into the final event, the team scoreboard read: Princeton 23, Yale 22, Harvard 21. The final tally of the top three was Yale 38, Harvard 35, Princeton 35.
The 1V final was close from the start, under the I-290 bridge, and throughout the 2,000 meters. However, the Bulldogs never trailed and held off a very strong Crimson boat. The yellow Empacher shell named after the Class of 1983 cut through the lake waters to finish 5:30.7. Harvard came through the flags at 5:31.1.
The first-ever three-peat for the heavies has added significance for five oarsmen in that 1V. Captain Rob Hurn, seniors Ollie Wynn-Griffith and Nate Goodman and juniors Sholto Carnegie and Paul Jacquot were all in the boat that won each of those grand finals at Worcester.
The Bulldogs' 2V, which was looking to avenge a sixth-place finish last spring as this year's top seed, finished second to Princeton in a very tight race. The Tigers crossed the finish at 5:35.5 while Yale took the silver with a 5:38.0.
The third varsity boat (5:39.0) came very close to taking its grand final, but a late surge by Harvard gave the Crimson the win by almost two seconds. The Yale 3V and 2V gets two more shots at its rival, including the June 10 Yale-Harvard Regatta on the Thames River.
Yale's 4V took second in the petite final with a 5:56.2 row in.
HEATS
The morning heats went off during a steady rain and wind.
The first varsity won its heat with a conservative cruise through lane one that finished in 5:33.9, almost three seconds ahead of Boston University. Syracuse, Penn, Navy and Rutgers, respectively, followed the Terriers.
Yale's lead in the heat bounced back and forth from a half to a full-boat length as the Bulldogs tried to avoid going full throttle while not leaving any doubt who was heading for the top lane for the grand final.
The second varsity completed the 2,000 meters in 5:38.7, nearly two seconds better than Brown to earn a GF position. The Eli 3V also had about a three-second margin of victory in its heat, coming in at 5:44.8.
By Steve Conn, Yale Associate AD & Sports Publicity Director – steven.conn@yale.edu
