The heavyweight crew team began its season with a pair of wins.

On Saturday, the Yale crew house hosted the Head of the Housatonic, and the heavyweight crew came away victorious in both the men’s collegiate eight and the men’s collegiate four. The crew also competed in the pair and single events.

“I am extremely proud of our team’s efforts and accomplishments at the Head of the Housatonic,” captain Lucas Spielfogel ’10 said.

In the collegiate men’s eight, the varsity heavyweights finished first with a time of 13:59:313, beating out Northeastern and Williams, which came in with times of 14:09:12 and 14:21:228, respectively. The second and third varsity eights also raced, rounding out the top five with a fourth- and fifth-place finish.

Head coach John Pescatore summed up the day’s events by praising his crew’s hard work.

“The team performed well overall,” he said. “We won the eight and four, had strong finishes from our second and third boats in both of those events, and might have won the pair had our top crew not suffered a collision at the midway point of the race.”

In other events, Yale’s varsity heavyweight crews closed out the top two in the collegiate four with times of 16:14.856 and 16:21:715. The Y150 varsity took third in that race with 16:33.842.

“The Head of the Housatonic was absolutely a team success” Spielfogel said. “Though some will ultimately receive medals for their efforts and others not, every tangible victory is a reflection of every team member’s commitment.”

The heavyweights are off to a good start, and have expectations of being competitive this season, Pescatore said. The coach wrote in an e-mail to his players that he was proud of their opening performance of the season, and he noted that the team has “launched something that can be built upon over the next weeks.”

Spielfogel echoed these words. “I believe wholeheartedly that our team has limitless potential to excel, this year and in future years,” he said.

Looking into the future, Pescatore was cautiously optimistic about his crew.

“The Head of the Charles will be filled with most of the top teams from around the country,” the coach said. “But if our crews race they way they can I think competitive performances are possible.”

The heavyweights, along with the Y150, will head to Boston this weekend for the Head of the Charles Regatta.