The men’s lightweight crew rowed to a solid finish at the Princeton 3-Mile Chase this Sunday, with their top shell in the eights placing third and three of the fours crossing the mark in the top 10.
The eights took off in the morning as a field of 34 boats, four of which belonged to Yale, representing nine colleges. In a showing that mimicked last year’s result, the Bulldogs came in third with a time of 13:17.897, following Ivy League rivals Cornell and Penn. In the afternoon, all of the Eli fours finished within seven spots of each other, with the Yale A boat placing in fifth.
“Fall racing isn’t spring racing, so the guys were asked to jump in some boats and figure things out,” head coach Andy Card said. “Some shells were able to do that, and I’m happy for them and excited to move on.”
In the eights race, only three seconds separated Yale from second-place Penn, while Cornell finished seven seconds before the rest of the pack. The Bulldogs’ second boat put forth an impressive effort, rowing to sixth place at 13:28.632, ahead of four A shells and ending the race as the fastest B crew. Yale C finished in 17th, and Yale D was the last of Yale’s eights at 29th.
The Bulldogs’ first three four-boats were separated by one spot each, placing fifth, seventh and ninth with Yale D coming in 12th. Yale’s first boat came in at a time of 15:23.308. All four Yale boats finished ahead of the Princeton and Dartmouth A boats.
“The team displayed its depth on Sunday,” captain Noah Baily ’17 said. “Every boat had a strong performance, and the team embraced the fierce competition that this league always provides.”
This was the Bulldogs’ third race in the fall after also putting up good performances at the Head of the Housatonic and the Head of the Charles earlier this month. The Elis will now have until Nov. 30 to keep rowing outdoors until they move inside for winter training.
After graduating seven seniors last year and adding seven freshmen, the team hopes its new roster will be able to replicate the success the team had last season. In the spring, Yale went undefeated in its dual meets and won the Eastern Sprints championship, which remains the Bulldogs’ goal this coming year.
“Like always, the goal for 2017 is to have some great racing against some great competition,” William Van Fossen ’17 said. “This will happen after plenty of time working as a team both indoors and outdoors.”
Yale begins its spring at the Johnson Cup against Navy on April 1.