Heavyweight Crew Heads to Lake Quinsigamond for Eastern Sprints

May 15, 2008

WORCESTER, Mass. - With the dual season behind them, the No. 10 Yale men's heavyweight crew will head to Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday, May 18 to compete at the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Eastern Sprints. This is the first of the team's championship races this spring.

The EARC is comprised of the following varsity crews: No. 12 Boston University, No. 1 Brown, No. 6 Columbia, No. 9 Cornell, No. 17 Dartmouth, No. 11 Georgetown, No. 3 Harvard, No. 18 Holy Cross, No. 14 MIT, No. 5 Northeastern, No. 15 Penn, No. 4 Princeton, No. 16 Rutgers, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 8 Navy, No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 10 Yale.

This regatta is Yale's Ivy League Championship. The championship is awarded based on the varsity eight race. The top-finishing Ivy League boat is named champion, and its individual rowers are given first-team All-Ivy status. Yale has won the varsity eight race six and a half times (due to a shared title in 1962), second only to Harvard. While Yale has seen a number of these teams in dual races over the last two months, this is the first time they will all be brought together.

Teams will compete in 2000 meter trial heats in the morning to place themselves in finals for the afternoon. The number of teams that advance from each heat depends on the number of entries in the event. The finals, also 2000 meters, are broken into a grand, petite, and third final. Finals are made up of six teams, so if a race has three heats of six, the top two teams from each heat advance to the grand final. The team that wins the most points in the varsity, second varsity, and freshman races is awarded the Rowe Cup.

Last year the Bulldogs varsity eight boat came in second to Harvard by 2.4 seconds in the grand final. The second varsity took fifth in its grand final, and the third varsity took fourth in its grand final. At the freshman level, both the first and second boats took fifth in their respective grand finals.

Yale's heats for Sunday morning are as follows:

Second Freshman Eight (8:36 a.m.):

No. 2 Yale
No. 3 Cornell
No. 6 Navy
No. 7 Boston University

Third Varsity Eight (9:00 a.m.):

No. 2 Wisconsin
No. 3 Cornell
No. 6 Brown
No. 7 Yale
No. 10 Holy Cross

Freshman Eight (10:00 a.m.):

No. 3 Brown
No. 4 Yale
No. 9 Cornell
No. 10 George Washington
No. 15 Penn
No. 16 MIT

Second Varsity Eight (10:36 a.m.):

No. 1 Harvard
No. 6 Princeton
No. 7 Yale
No. 12 Georgetown
No. 13 George Washington

First Varsity Eight (12:00 p.m.):

No. 3 Harvard
No. 4 Princeton
No. 9 Cornell
No. 10 Yale
No. 15 Penn
No. 16 Rutgers

The races can be listened to live by clicking here.

Report filed by Charles Moore `10, Yale Sports Publicity