PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – A young Yale women's crew had a strong showing at the Ivy League Championship on the Cooper River. All five crews medaled, the Bulldogs were second for the NCAA automatic qualifier with 39 points and third in the overall team title with 71 points.
Yale's second varsity eight, varsity four and second varsity four all finished second, while the varsity eight and third varsity eight each placed third.
The Bulldogs, who entered the weekend ranked sixth nationally, are virtually assured of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship when the field is announced on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Will Porter, The Friends of YWC Head Coach of the Bulldogs, was proud to once again have every one of his student-athletes win a medal.
"It's unbelievable. We're the only team in the league that was able to do that," he said. "Coming from such a young group, I'm very happy for them. There has been a lot of progress this year."
Princeton earned the Ivy League title by winning the varsity eight grand final. The Tigers also captured the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship (44 points) and the team points title (82 points).
The Bulldogs narrowly missed a second-place finish in the varsity eight grand final. Yale had a time of 6:34.452, a little over a second behind second-place Penn (6:33.035). Princeton won in 6:30.520. Brown (6:39.157) was fourth followed by Columbia (6:46.387) and Dartmouth (6:49.889).
"Our varsity eight is finding another gear," Porter said. "They stepped up and raced really hard. This was probably one of their better races of the season. I think there is more to come in there and that is exciting looking towards NCAAs."
The second varsity eight finished three seconds behind Brown with a time of 6:43.831. The Bears had the lead after 500 meters and never relinquished it, finishing in 6:40.802. Yale was third halfway through the race but overtook Princeton to win a silver medal. The Tigers finished in 6:47.347. Penn (7:00.912) was fourth followed by Harvard-Radcliffe (7:05.104) and Columbia (7:11.389).
"The second varsity is a young crew, and I think they learned something coming down the course," Porter said. "They have to get a little bit faster off the mark, but they are very resilient."
The varsity four was third after 500 meters but easily overtook Brown to earn its silver medal. The Bulldogs finished in 7:22.593, behind only Princeton, which crossed the line in 7:18.723. Brown was third in 7:25.161 followed by Harvard-Radcliffe (7:49.293), Penn (7:52.500) and Columbia (8:00.18).
"The four really stepped up to finish higher than their seed," Porter said.
Yale's third-place time in the third varsity eight was 7:04.988. Brown won in 7:00.970 and Penn (7:03.360) was second.
"The 3V8 finished strong," Porter said. "They've never really been able to be complete all season, but they were finally able to have a set lineup and had a good race."
In the second varsity four, the Bulldogs finished in 7:42.471. Princeton cruised victory in 7:31.660. Brown was third in 7:46.905).
"The second varsity four improved on their seeding coming in and stepped forward after yesterday's heat," Porter said.
Following the races at the awards ceremony, the All-Ivy teams were announced.
Mia Levy earned first team honors, while
Lauren Carey and
Sophie Houston were selected to the second team.
The NCAA Championship is set for May 31-June 2 in Cincinnati.
Yale Boatings
Varsity Eight
Bow:
Lauren Carey
2:
Harriet Drake-Lee
3:
Violet Barletta
4:
Sophia Hahn
5:
Maddie Moore
6:
Mia Levy
7:
Sophie Houston
8:
Hanna Winter
Cox:
Esha Bhattacharya
Second Varsity Eight
Bow:
Stine Hojager Nielsen
2:
Maeve Heneghan
3:
Mackenzie Ealson
4:
Imogen Cabot
5:
Alexa von der Schulenburg
6:
Lindsey Williams
7:
Jana Dremelj
8:
Aikaterini Gkogkou
Cox:
Grace Menke
Varsity Four
Bow:
Lily Eales
2:
Eva Hofmans
3:
Ailish Harkin
4:
Anna Keating
Cox:
Hope Galusha
Second Varsity Four
Bow:
Laura Burton
2:
Olivia Schnur
3:
Patti Mullin
4:
Zoe Alina Beeson
Cox:
Sofía Garcia
Third Varsity Eight
Bow:
Mady Novotná
2:
Sophia Craver
3:
Claire Cummings
4:
Sus Tuder
5:
Lauren Walker
6:
Ella Warden
7:
Kate Edwards
8:
Marie Ramm
Cox:
Alexa Lee
