IRA Report:
Battling back from a disappointing 7th place at the EARC Sprints, the Yale varsity ends its 2007 campaign by making the Grand Final at the IRA with a solid effort in the heat. Though unable to find the magic that they found in 2005, where the Elis came back to claim the IRA National Championship, the Yale squad looks promising in the coming years. With only two graduating from the IRA varsity, the young Elis were outmatched this year, but the experience gained by the Class of 2009, as well as the championship performance of the Class of 2010, should serve the Bulldogs well in the future. The freshmen came through again with a strong performance in a major race, winning the silver medal in the Freshman 4+, behind only the heavyweights from Cal.
In other racing, the 2V 8+, entered in the 2V HWT event as Yale ‘B’, made it to the Semi-Finals by virtue of their come-from behind win in the repechage over the Navy HWT 2V. The Semi-Final was a bit of cold water reality, where the crew were a game fifth. Still, in the Petite final the Yale LWTs finished just 12th, only 0.077 seconds out of fifth and 1.969 seconds behind Yale ‘A’. The men’s pair entry from Y150 found themselves outsprinted to the line by Columbia, which put them fourth in the Grand Final.
With 18 oarsmen rowing at the IRA returning for the 2008 season, and a solid incoming freshman class, the future looks bright for the Yale lightweights.
For full IRA results, click here.