WORCESTER, Mass. – For Bulldog rowing fans looking for exciting racing at the EARC Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond, the first question to be asked would be answered before 10:00 a.m. in the first heat of the varsity lightweight eight. Would Yale be able to qualify for the IRA National Championship by earning a spot in the Grand Final? The answer: yes. The race was a thriller and Yale beat out a charging Georgetown crew for the last qualifying spot. In the afternoon Grand Final, No. 1 seed Harvard took the championship with Yale finishing sixth.
 
 
The 2V also found success in the morning preliminary heats, finishing second behind Penn in heat 1, allowing the Bulldogs to move on to the 2V Grand Final. There, the crew finished in fifth place, with Penn the winning crew.
 
The Yale fourth varsity eight kicked off the slew of afternoon championships with a 1:50 p.m. contest versus Cornell, Navy, Penn and the Navy 5V. This race marked the season finale for these crews with medals and shirts on the line. Out of the stake boats, the Navy 4V took an early lead on the pack. Yale and Cornell held even for the first few hundred meters, with Penn and the Navy 5V falling back slightly. The positions remained like this until the midpoint of the race, when Cornell began to walk away from Yale and close in on the leading Navy crew. A three-way battle for third place commenced between Yale, Penn and the Navy 5V. With 750m to go, the Eli 4V and Navy 5V took moves to pull away to about a length ahead of the Quakers, with Yale but a few seats ahead of Navy. A ferocious sprint saw the Bulldogs pull away from the Navy 5V to finish third behind Cornell, who closely followed the Navy 4V. 
 
After the race, officials reviewed several lane violations by the Navy 4V. Following deliberations, the results were officially changed such that Cornell was awarded gold and Yale silver; the Navy 4V took third place. 
 
 
"I'm so proud of the progress this crew has made these past two months and couldn't have asked for a better group to end my senior year with," said senior and 4V 3-seat Andrew Coli.
 
As if the spectators in Worcester weren't already on edge, the 3V A-Final was surely enough to send them over. At 2:36 p.m., the Yale third varsity eight blitzed off the start alongside crews from Cornell, Penn, Harvard, Navy, Columbia and Princeton – only to be halted by race officials within the first hundred meters due to equipment failure. The crews lined up once more at 3:18 p.m., and this time it was for real. All crews took off to a strong start, with Cornell gaining an early advantage on the field. The racing was intense through the first 500 meters, with positions too close to call. The Bulldogs found their rhythm in the middle 1,000 meters of the race, though, walking through both Harvard and Navy to contend with Penn and Cornell for medals. Coming into the final few 100 meters, Cornell kept its strong lead on the pack, with Penn working hard to fight off a Bulldog 3V that was charging in for a shot at silver. Yale sprinted hard to cut into the Quakers' lead, but was beaten to the finish line by just seven-tenths of a second, taking bronze behind Penn, who took silver, and Cornell, who won gold. 
 
 
"I am proud to be a part of this crew. The guys overcame a lot of adversity throughout the season to get to where we are today. The boat came together under tough training and racing. It was a special boat, with everyone bringing positive energy to each row. I will dearly miss being surrounded by the people in this crew,"  said senior and 3V stroke seat Blake Weyerhaeuser.
 
The Y150 will now prepare for the IRA National Championship, which will be held from May 31 to June 2 in West Windsor, N.J. 
 
The official EARC Sprints results can be found here.
 
Here are the lineups for the four Bulldog boats:
 
1V
Cox       Jackie Weyerhaeuser / Minneapolis, Min.
Stroke   Constantine Polychronopoulos / London, England
7           Enrico Pradines / Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.
6           Itai Almogy / Palo Alto, Calif.
5           Michael Steinthal / Greenwich, Conn.
4           Ago Ghiso / Chicago, Ill.
3           Andres Garcia-Chacon / Coral Gables, Fla.
2           Nolan Kaputa / Princeton, N.J.
Bow      Dylan Oberst / Greenwich, Conn.
 
2V
Cox        Magdalena Moore / Winthrop, Wash.
Stroke    James Casemore / Farnham, England
7            Martin Vakoc / Prague, Czech Republic
6            Raph Clark / South Hamilton, Mass.
5            Andrew Griesinger / Princeton, N.J.
4            Max Blacksten / McLean, Va.
3            John Cahill / Los Angeles, Calif.
2            Alexander Judelson / Manhattan, N.Y.
Bow       Devin Seli / Woodbridge, Conn.
 
3V
Cox        Fanny Zhang / Ossining, N.Y.
Stroke    Blake Weyerhaeuser / Minneapolis, Min.
7            Ryan Vaughn / Moraga, Calif.
6            Angus Stevenson / London, England
5            Andrew Kasparyan / Southborough, Mass.
4            Michael Linquata / Berwyn, Penn.
3            Andrew Terkildsen / Lake Forest, Il.
2            Thomas Monaghan / London, England
Bow       Will Konopka / Philadelphia, Penn.
 
4V
Cox        Akshay Khunte / Higganum, Conn.
Stroke    Paden Nichols / Des Moines, Wash.
7            Maxwell Raabe / Old Greenwich, Conn.
6            Andy Yang / Los Angeles, Calif.
5            Eddie Cavallin / Washington, D.C.
4            Harry Waters / Old Greenwich, Conn.
3            Andrew Coli / Mountain View, Calif.
2            Brandon Fernandez / Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.
Bow       Eli Simon / Woodside, Calif.