Y150 completed two undefeated seasons today on Lake Quinsigamond, and they did it two different ways. In the freshman eight, the same Eli nine were there from the first race to the last, and in the 3V, there was at least 50% turnover in the crew from the beginning of the year. In the end, both crews had the speed to claim gold for Yale. The freesh dominated the field, winning by open water and leading from pillar to post. The 3V race was tighter – the tightest of the year for that crew – but in the end they found the speed to close and finish the year unblemised.
Finding the speed to close was the theme for the 1V and 2V eights in the afternoon. The varsity did a better job in the afternoon Grand Final than their morning heat, and led the last race of the day through the 1000, just barely. An inability to close told the tale, as Harvard moved well to take the lead in the third 500, and Dartmouth drove their bowball through by about a foot to claim the silver.
The 2V were in a three-way battle for the silver with Cornell and Princeton at the 1000 meter mark, but could not find another gear and finished fourth. The 2V had found considerable speed after the HYPs, and proved it today, but could not overturn the crews that had beaten them earlier in the year.
Yale’s pursuit of the Jope Cup proved tantalizingly close, and held a slim one-point lead going into the varsity race. The Bulldogs needed to finish at least one place higher than Harvard to win the Cup, and they were doing that with 750 to go, but proved unable to hold on and ended up second in Jope Cup points with 31 to Harvard’s 33.