The women’s crew team is in a boat. And they’re going fast. And they’ve got a winning streak to please their fans.
The varsity eight of the women’s crew team extended its undefeated season with a victory over Radcliffe on Saturday on the Charles River.
The No. 2 Bulldogs’ varsity eight defeated the No. 16 Crimson by nearly six seconds, bringing home the Case Cup in the process.
“We have been winning a fair amount lately but we are not doing anything special, there is no secret, we do not have any Olympians, we are just plain Ivy League student athletes working very hard,” head coach William Porter said.
The Elis added insult to injury by completely sweeping the day’s races, winning the second varsity, varsity four, second varsity four and the novice eight.
The varsity eight — the two-time defending NCAA Champions — held a slim lead over the Crimson in the opening lengths of the race. Once they built momentum, however, the Bulldogs extended their lead to a boat’s length. By the last 500 meters there was no stopping Yale as the Elis went on to finish the 2,000 meter race with a time of 6:56:0.
With the win, the Elis retain the Case Cup. In the storied history between the two rivals, Yale is now leading 16-14 against Harvard in the overall cup series.
Yale’s second varsity had one of its more competitive races of the season against the Crimson. In its closest margin of victory, the second varsity sailed past the Crimson by eight seconds, posting a time of 7:15:9.
The varsity four had an even larger margin of victory, cruising at a time of 8:12:4 to top the Cantabs by nearly 11 seconds.
In the last two races, the second varsity four and novice eight crushed their opponents, winning their races by 15 and 30 seconds, respectively.
The Bulldogs have two races left before the NCAA Championships begin. They will be back in the water on May 5 to challenge Brown for the Nat & Anne Case Cup.
“We have a very hard race next week against the defending Eastern Sprints Champions and NCAA Team Champions, Brown,” Porter said. “They have proven ofer the years to be the best team in the country and we are just eager to see how we match up.”