SARASOTA, Fla. – It was a memorable NCAA Championship for Yale women's crew. The Bulldogs captured the second varsity eight grand final in dominating fashion and placed fifth as a team with 102 points, their highest finish since 2009.
"I am so proud of this team. They fought for everything here," said
Will Porter, Friends of YWC Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "There is no question we are not 100 percent as a team, but they just stepped up and raced their tails off. We had to make many last-minute adjustments to our lineups, but they stepped up as a team. I want to thank my assistant coaches – Jamie [Snider], Kristen [Wilhelm] and Jim [Ronai] – as well as [former assistant] Laura Simon, who helped recruit all these athletes."
Yale's second varsity eight entered the championship undefeated and left little doubt they were the fastest 2V8 in the nation. The Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the first 500 meters, had a nearly two-second advantage by the midway point and were never threatened the rest of the way. Yale posted a dominant time of 6:21.169. Stanford was second in 6:23.220, followed by Washington (6:24.514), Texas (6:26.282), Princeton (6:30.692) and Virginia (6:35.795).
"Our 2V has been fast all year," Porter said. "Other people may have been surprised by Yale, but we weren't. Speed is speed, and they had it all year."
It is the second NCAA title for a Yale second varsity eight and the fifth overall for the Bulldogs. The 2V8 also won in 2009, while the varsity eight captured the crown in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
Yale's varsity eight placed eighth in the nation by finishing second in the petite final with a time of 6:21.134. Ohio State won in 6:19.654. The Bulldogs finished ahead of Penn (6:25.350), Michigan (6:26.210), SMU (6:27.319) and Virginia (6:34.754).
The varsity four was the first to race on Finals Sunday and finished fourth (10th overall) in the petite final with a time of 7:19.662. Yale was faster than Michigan (7:20.523) and Southern California (7:22.253). California won in 7:16.233 followed by Virginia (7:16.522) and Rutgers (7:18.703).
Texas and Stanford both finished with 124 team points, but the Longhorns claimed the NCAA title by virtue of their victory in the varsity eight grand final. Princeton (118) was third and Washington (112) fourth. Brown made it three Ivy League schools in the top seven by placing seventh with 100 points.
The Bulldogs finished in the top-5 at NCAAs for the sixth time in school history and now have 17 top-10 finishes all-time.
The future looks quite bright for Yale as well. The Bulldogs had only four seniors in their NCAA lineups.
Next up for Yale is a trip to Henley next month.
YALE BOATINGS
Varsity Eight
Bow:
Maya Meschkuleit, So., Mississauga, Canada
2.
Emmeline Laurence, Jr., Greenland, N.H.
3.
Lucy Edmunds, Jr., North Yorkshire, Great Britain
4.
Lauren Carey, So., Harrogate, England & Cape Town, South Africa
5.
Maddie Moore, Fy., Naples, Fla.
6.
Veronica Wall, Jr., Ashburton, New Zealand
7.
Margaret Hedeman, Jr., Concord, Mass.
Stroke:
Claire Dirks, Sr., Toronto, Ontario
Cox:
Aparajita Chauhan, Sr., Seattle, Wash.
Second Varsity Eight
Bow:
Mette Køchs-Nielsen, Jr., Aarhus, Denmark
2.
Christina Bourmpou, Fy., Thessaloniki, Greece
3.
Anna Scott, Jr., Denver, Colo.
4.
Mia Levy, Fy., Des Moines, Iowa
5.
Phoebe Campbell, Sr., North Molton, Great Britain
6.
Christiana Congdon, Jr., Stonington, Conn.
7.
Nicole Martinez, Fy., Asuncion, Paraguay
Stroke:
Katie King-Smith, Sr., Oxford, United Kingdom
Cox:
Esha Bhattacharya, So., San Ramon, Calif.
Varsity Four
Bow:
Anna Matthes, Jr., Belmont, Mass.
2.
Charlotte Fennell, Jr., Amersham, England
3.
Marie Ramm, Fy., Birkereod, Denmark
Stroke:
Hannah Johns, Jr., Longmeadow, Mass.
Cox:
Grace Menke, So., Sarasota, Fla.
Spares
Sophie Houston, So., Sydney, Australia
Clare Naughton, Jr., Burlington, Mass.
