June 7, 2008

CAMDEN, N.J. - Yale's varsity eight finished ninth at the IRA National Championship Regatta Saturday afternoon on the Cooper River, placing third in the petite final. The Bulldogs also got a fourth-place finish from their freshman eight boat, while the second varsity eight won the third-level final to finish 13th.

"We rowed a good race today in the petite final," said head coach John Pescatore of the varsity eight. "We got beat by Brown and Harvard in our qualifying heat and then had to go through the repechage to qualify for the semi-final. The varsity eight rowed a better race in the semi's, but still came up short of what they needed to qualify for the grand final."

The Bulldogs did make it out of Thursday's repechage with a first-place finish that got them a berth in Friday's semifinals. A sixth-place finish there placed Yale in Saturday's petite final, where the Bulldogs (5:42.848) finished behind Cornell (5:38.888) and Brown (5:41.764). Notables who finished behind Yale included Ivy League rivals Princeton and Harvard. Wisconsin won the grand final later in the day to claim the national championship.

"Cornell and Brown got away from everybody," Pescatore said of the petite final. "We did have a strong finish, but it wasn't enough."

The freshman eight boat contended for a medal throughout its race before finishing fourth in 5:44.752, two seconds behind third-place Harvard. Cal (5:37.372) edged out Washington by half a second for first place.

"We rowed a very good race," Pescatore said of the freshman eight. "We were close to the lead through the first half, then Cal and Washington separated themselves. We battled with Harvard for third, then they got a little lead and extended it."

In addition to the second varsity eight's win in its third-level final for 13th place, Yale also got a pair of fourth-place finishes in petite finals from its freshman four (6:44.703; first-place Harvard finished in 6:37.209) and its open four (6:59.891; first-place Wisconsin finished in 6:39.553). The varsity four with cox placed fifth in its petite final (6:43.330; first-place Rutgers finished in 6:28.738), and the varsity pair finished in 14th place overall after coming in second in Saturday's third-level final (8:06.447 to Delaware's 7:31.586).

Yale now turns its attention to The Regatta against Harvard, which takes place next Saturday on the Thames River in New London, Conn. The upstream races begin at 2:45 with the freshmen, followed by the second varsity at 3:30 and the varsity at 4:30. The Bulldogs are the defending regatta champions.

Varsity Eight:
Petite Final: 1 Cornell 5:38.888; 2 Brown 5:41.764; 3 Yale 5:42.848; 4 Princeton 5:44.423; 5 Harvard 5:45.851; 6 Navy 5:53.597

Cox: Michael Ciccotti, Sr.
8: Pieter Morgan, Jr.
7: Andrew Collard, Jr.
6: Jack Vogelsang, Sr.
5: James Tormey, So.
4: Henry Cole, So.
3: Lucas Spielfogel, So.
2: Sean Hurley, Sr.
Bow: Erik Woelber, Jr.

Second Varsity Eight:
Third Level Final: 1 Yale 5:53.182; 2 U.S. Naval Academy 5:53.606; 3 Georgetown 5:58.112; 4 Michigan 6:00.542; 5 Syracuse 6:02.046; 6 Holy Cross 6:10.242

Cox: Rebecca Burgoyne-Allen, So.
Stroke: Keir Evans, Jr.
7: Nolan Maher, So.
6: Matthew Barber, Jr.
5: Max Kramer, Jr.
4: Antonio Sirianni, So.
3: Sean Riordan, Jr.
2: Tyler Guth, Sr.
Bow: David Mcintosh, Sr.

Freshman Eight:
Grand Final: 1 California 5:37.372; 2 Washington 5:37.880; 3 Harvard 5:42.335; 4 Yale 5:44.752; 5 Brown 5:47.378; 6 Princeton 5:48.629

Cox: Carolyn Tobkin
Stroke: Benjamin Grant
7: Duncan Logie
6: Marcos Carzolio
5: Nathaniel Reeve
4: Ezra Mitchell
3: Matthew Ramlow
2: Daniel Klassen
Bow: Spyridon Mastroyannis

report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity