Yale Defeats Harvard With Two Incredible Finishes
June 9, 2007
NEW LONDON, Conn. -- In the closest finish in 93 years, Yale's Varsity Eight charged from behind in the final strokes of the race to edge archrival Harvard in the 142nd Yale-Harvard Regatta on the Thames River. The Bulldogs finished the four-mile course in 19:57.5, while the Crimson registered a time of 19:58.0. It was the first time Yale claimed the Sexton Cup since 1999. The closest race in event history was Yale's 0.2-second victory in 1914. In addition, Yale's Junior Varsity Eight also came from behind to overtake Harvard for an 18-second victory, 15:27 to 15:45.
In the 4-mile Varsity race, Eastern Sprints winner Harvard led from the first stroke, continued to extend that lead, and held an open-water advantage by the two-mile mark. Yale slowly chipped away at that lead over the next mile, but the Crimson still maintained a comfortable five-second margin (open water) heading into the last half-mile. However, the Bulldogs, hoping to "keep it close," according to Yale stroke Hunter Swartz, continued to apply pressure to Harvard and gradually closed in as the crews approached the finish line.
Then, with about 200 meters to go, Yale launched an even more determined charge and Harvard seemed to stumble. The Bulldogs raised their cadence to 41 (strokes per minute) and attacked with a final, furious rush to the finish line, overtaking the Crimson on the final stroke (see photo inset) to win by half a deck.
It was too close to call from a distance, but Yale began celebrating immediately and was awarded the half-second victory by the traditional raising of the Yale flag in the judges boat. Yale's only lead of the race was at the finish.
The crew of coxswain Alfred Shikany, Hunter Swartz, Sean Lynam, Captain Patrick Purdy, Charlie Cole, Andrew Collard, Pieter Morgan, Michael Smith and Jack Vogelsang broke the varsity's seven-year losing streak and gave Yale its first upstream win since 1984. The victory capped an undefeated dual racing season for the Bulldog Varsity Eight.
"I didn't foresee this finish, out-sprinting the Eastern Sprints champions" Head Coach John Pescatore, who beat Harvard for the first time, said. "Those guys (Harvard) are good. And it says a lot for these (Yale) guys. They rowed every stroke from behind, and it takes will power and confidence to keep going. But if you're behind, it's not over."
"I knew it with 200 meters left," Shikany said. "We were closing faster than they were picking up speed. They were waiting for us to make a move, and we were more than happy to oblige."
"The whole boat just came together during that late drive," Purdy said. "At the press conference on Monday I talked about `going for the throat,' and we executed when it came time."
Harvard was heavily favored in the JV race, but Yale jumped out to an early lead right from the start. The Bulldogs maintained a five- or six-seat advantage for most of the first two miles of the three-mile contest, successfully repelling several very strong moves by the Harvard crew. But eventually Harvard eased past Yale near the three-quarter-mile to go mark and built a three-seat advantage.
Another big push by the Crimson extended the lead to almost eight seats with just under ½ mile to go, and it looked like Harvard might pull away. Yale responded quickly with a burst of both power and cadence, one of the Harvard oarsmen appeared to falter under the weight of his own efforts, and the combination of these two events seemed to unravel the Harvard crew. Yale surged past the Crimson just in front of the rock at Bartlett's Cove and pulled away with every stroke to the finish.
The Yale JV rowed a gutsy 36 strokes per minute for the entire first two-and-a-half miles, only to raise their cadence to 39 for the last half-mile.
The crew of coxswain Michael Ciccotti, Liam Beedling, Sean Hurley, Matthew Barber, Max Kramer, Erik Woelber, Sean Riordan, Matt Campbell and Patrick Beedling finished the course in 15:27, 18 seconds better than Harvard's 15:45. With the win, Yale claimed the F. Valentine Chappell Trophy for the second time in three years.
"The JV result probably had two effects (for the varsity)," Pescatore said. "Part of it was, `Wow, they won, so we can win too. The other was, `They won, so now we'd better.' It likely both inspired confidence and added pressure at the same time."
It was not a clean sweep, however, as Yale failed to retain the New London Cup by dropping the freshman race. Harvard led wire-to-wire, finishing the two-mile course in 10:01.13. Yale's crew of coxswain James Luccarelli, Nolan Maher, Henry Cole, Derek Johnson, James Tormey, Gregory Muir, Charles Moore, William Walter and Josh Dorsey crossed the line in 10:11.69.
By winning two of the three events, Yale claimed the Hoyt C. Pease and Robert Chappell Jr. Trophy as overall regatta champion for the first time since winning all three races in 1996.
142nd Yale-Harvard Regatta Results
Freshman (2 miles):
Harvard 10:01.13
Yale 10:11.69
Yale crew: James Luccarelli (cox), Nolan Maher, Henry Cole, Derek Johnson, James Tormey, Gregory Muir, Charles Moore, William Walter, Josh Dorsey
Junior Varsity (3 miles):
Yale 15:27
Harvard 15:45
Yale crew: Michael Ciccotti (cox), Liam Beedling, Sean Hurley, Matthew Barber, Max Kramer, Erik Woelber, Sean Riordan, Matt Campbell, Patrick Beedling
Varsity (4 miles):
Yale 19:57.5
Harvard 19:58.0
Yale crew: Alfred Shikany (cox), Hunter Swartz, Sean Lynam, Patrick Purdy, Charlie Cole, Andrew Collard, Pieter Morgan, Michael Smith, Jack Vogelsang
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity
