Yale Rows Past Terriers; Freshmen Upset Elis
May 1, 2002 | Men's Rowing
The Terrier men's varsity heavyweight crew lost to Yale, while the Terrier freshmen upset the Elis in a rare mid-week regatta on Wednesday (May 1st) on the Charles River.
In the featured race, the Terriers, who are ranked number 11 in this week's Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC), lost by five seconds to the ninth-ranked Elis. The loss dropped the Terriers' record to 2-5, as it was the fourth of five regattas this year that was decided by five seconds or less.
In Wednesday's race, Yale covered the 2000-meter course in 7:06.7, while the Terriers were timed in 7:11.7.
"I thought we did a real good job considering the very windy rowing conditions," said B.U. head coach Rodney Pratt. "The conditions really benefited Yale since they were a heavier boat.
"But, I have to give our guys a lot of credit, because each time Yale made a move, we were able to answer it," the coach went on. "In the end, though, Yale was able to handle the weather better because of their size."
The big story, though, came in the first freshman race where B.U. upset the Elis.
Yale is ranked third in this week's EARC freshman eight poll, while the Terriers are ranked ninth.
At the start of the race, it appeared the Elis would live up to their advanced billing as they took the lead off the start. In fact, at the 500-meter mark, the Terriers were down by about a length. At that point, they began to make their move and by the 1000 mark they had actually open up a lead of about three seats. From there, through the rest of the course, B.U. opened the lead so the final margin was nearly eight seconds-6:48.8 to 6:56.6.
"The freshmen did an unbelievable job," said Pratt. "They responded to Yale's early lead by moving up over the next 500 meters, and the proceeded to win by a couple of lengths."
Yale won the other two races that were contested-the second varsity and second freshmen. In the former, the Elis won with a time of 6:58.8 to 7:81.0, while in the latter the difference was 7:16.9 to 7:17.5.
| Men's Rowing Results |
| Charles River--Boston, MA |
| May 1, 2002 |
| Varsity Eight |
| 1. Yale, 7:06.7 |
| 2. Boston University, 7:11.7 |
| Second Varsity Eight |
| 1. Yale, 6:58.8 |
| 2. Boston University, 7:18.0 |
| First Freshmen Eight |
| 1. Boston University, 6:48.8 |
| 2. Yale, 6:56.6 |
| Second Freshman Eight |
| 1. Yale, 7:16.9 |
| 2. Boston University, 7:17.5 |
