BOSTON, Mass. � The Yale lightweight crew took the top two spots in the lightweight four on Sunday at the 46th Head of the Charles Regatta, held in Boston. In a feat that head coach Andy Card called “unprecedented in my memory at least,” Yale’s two shells were able to hold off last year’s winner, the Don Rowing Club of Canada as well as entries from McGill, Georgetown, Navy, and Harvard. McGill University finished third while last year’s winner, Don Rowing Club, finished fourth. Yale’s “B” entry, comprised of freshmen Matthew O’Donaghue, Matthew Bridgwater, Peter Bridgwater, Emery Schoenly and coxswain Ilana Usiskin, finished first with a time of 16:23.6 while Yale’s “A” entry of Patrick O’Keefe, Kalani Rosell, Chris Mayerfeld,Samuel Cooley, and coxswain Emma McBurney finished only half a second back with a time of 16:24.1. At roughly the halfway point, Yale ‘B’; trailed leader McGill by 2.3 seconds, while Yale ‘A’ trailed by 4 seconds. Strong second halves by both Yale crews was the difference as they surged past McGill and Don Rowing Club for the rare 1-2 finish.
2010 marks the second time in three years that Yale has won the lightweight fours event at the Head of the Charles and the sixth year in a row that the Bulldogs have been the top collegiate finisher.
Yale’s entry in the lightweight finished ninth, with a time of 14:42.2 after starting from the seventh position. Princeton won the event, followed by Cornell and Harvard. Yale, stroked by captain Andrew Hakanson ’11, never got on track after running with the pack to the first marker at Riverside Boat Club.
Yale will complete its fall season next Sunday at the Princeton 3-mile Chase, held on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J.
Complete results from the Charles here.