Chase over, winter begins

Princeton, NJ - The Yale lightweight crew concluded its fall season this afternoon at the 3-Mile Chase, with the varsity eight finishing sixth overall. With most of the Bulldogs’ EARC opponents and several other lightweight crews present, Yale was able to test its speed and depth against its spring competition as the team prepares to head into winter training.

The varsity eight, which started fourth, started strong. Pushed by a hard-charging Delaware crew, the Bulldogs trailed eventual winner by only three seconds at the halfway point. The varsity crews separated after Lake Carnegie’s initial turn, however, with Princeton widening the gap. The Bulldogs, though, were able to move away from the Blue Hens and gain ground on Navy, who started third, in the last mile, finishing with a time of 13:33.6. Their sixth-place finish, only 0.3 seconds behind Cornell, marked a significant improvement over last week’s results at the Head of the Charles. The Yale “B” crew finished 14th overall, with a time of 13:55.6, and the Yale “C” crew finished 15th, first among “C” crews with a time of 14:05.5.

“Racing was closer this week. It was nice seeing an improvement from the Charles, which we mainly attribute to a lot mental focus at practice this week,” said captain Andrew Hakanson.

The Yale freshman eight, which included the members of the Head of the Charles-winning lightweight four, finished fourth overall in the freshman event, second among lightweight crews with a time of 13:52.5. In the varsity lightweight fours event, Yale raced four boats, finishing 11th, 19th, 20th, and 25th. The Bulldogs also raced four pairs, with the top boat placing fifth.
Yale now heads into its winter training period, its next race being the Johnson Cup with Navy on April 2. Hakanson sees training as an opportunity to continue the improvements shown at the Chase.
“We need to keep our sights set on training hard for the next five months in order to challenge the teams at the top,” he said. “It was a beautiful day for racing and spirits were high as we concluded our fall season.”
Full results can be seen here.