WEST WINSDOR, N.J. – The Washington men's rowing team took home the James Ten Eyck Trophy as the overall points winner for the 11th time in the last 12 years, but for the second year in a row, it was Yale that won the national title as winner of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association varsity eight grand final Sunday at Mercer Lake.
 
The Ivy League crew led from wire to wire in the feature race, which was run as the first event of the day, thanks to the schedule being condensed and flipped due to impending bad weather. The Huskies finished second. In men's rowing, the winner of the varsity eight final is considered the "national champion."
 
The Elis came off the starting dock as the leader and Washington rowed in second place the entire 2,000 meters, making various challenges but never catching Yale. In rough waters and with a headwind, Yale won in a time of 6:01.648, with the Huskies posting a time of 6:04.337, about seven seats behind the Bulldogs. California won the bronze in a time of 6:08.911.
 
Thanks to victories in the second and third varsity eight grand finals, Washington won the Ten Eyck Trophy for the 15th time in school history, with 211 total points. Yale (199 points) was second and Cal (196) took third.
 
"This is an incredible team effort, from top to bottom," said UW men's coach Michael Callahan. "We've made a lot of improvements; the depth, the strength, the morale are all better than last year. To win the Ten Eyck is one of our program's biggest goals. I think it shows we are the best program, top to bottom.
 
"We lost the varsity eight," he continued. "Yale was faster today. We did a lot of training to be fast in the first 500, and I don't think we really showed that today, unfortunately. This is a really incredible field. Men's rowing keeps getting better and deeper."
 
Shortly after the varsity eight final, the Huskies won the second and third varsity eights in quick succession. The Husky 2V8+, which was the third seed based on the semifinals, led the entire way. From the start, California was the closest challenger, sticking with the UW boat all the way down the course. In the end, the Huskies held the Bears off, winning by about five seats in a time of 6:23.404. Cal took the silver in 6:25.427 and Yale was third.
 
"It was a little rough. It was pretty hardcore rowing, just grinding it out as best as we could," said junior Tennyson Federspiel, who rowed in the five seat in the winning second varsity eight. "I think overall, it's a success, but we're going to come out of this with a chip on our shoulders at the results from the 1V. We'll keep pushing forward."
 
The 3V8+ final was already under way when the 2V8+ crossed the finish line. Again, the Huskies led throughout. Cal was second early on, but Harvard passed the Bears to serve as Washington's closest threat. The Huskies answered every challenge from the Crimson and won with a little bit of open water separating the UW shell from Harvard's. The Husky time was 6:33.546, with Harvard finishing in 6:37.214. California took third place.
 
The rough conditions led to a cancellation of the latter part of Sunday's races, including the varsity four grand final. No winner was named in the varsity four.
 
The Huskies earned their 29th Kennedy Challenge Cup (second varsity eight) and their 27th Stewards Cup (third varsity eight; formerly given to freshman eight).
 
Saturday evening, due to impending bad weather, the Sunday schedule was condensed and flipped so that the varsity eight grand final was the first event of the day, rather than finale, as originally planned. Several third and fourth finals were cancelled along with all of the varsity four races.
 
UW'S IRA LINEUPS:
 
VARSITY 8+
Shell: Carl Lovsted
Cox: Rielly Milne (Sr., Woodinville, Wash./Brentwood School)
Stroke: Bram Schwarz (So., Haarlem, Netherlands)
7: Viktor Pivac (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia)
6: Samuel Halbert (So., Redmond, Wash./Woodinville)
5: Madison Molitor (Jr., Moses Lake, Wash./Moses Lake)
4: Andrew Gaard (Jr., Madison, Wis./West)
3: Chris Carlson (Jr., Bedford, N.H./Brewster Academy)
2: Sean Kelly (Sr., Princeton, N.J./Plainsboro South)
Bow: Elijah Maesner (Jr., Duvall, Wash./Eastlake)
 
SECOND VARSITY 8+
Shell: Grand Challenger
Cox: Kimmons Wilson (Jr., Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Stroke: Michiel Mantel (Jr., Amsterdam, Netherlands)
7: Simon van Dorp (So., Amsterdam, Netherlands)
6: George Esau (So., Long Lake, Minn./Orono)
5: Tennyson Federspiel (Jr., Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue)
4: Ben Davison (Jr., Inverness, Fla./Citrus)
3: Arne Landboe (Sr., Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood)
2: Robert Karlen (Sr., Everett, Wash./Walter Johnson (Md.))
Bow: Philipp Nonnast (Jr., Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
 
THIRD VARSITY 8+
Shell: Chuck Holtz
Cox: Braedan Daste (Sr., Redmond, Wash./Interlake)
Stroke: Gert-Jan van Doorn (Fr., Leiden, Netherlands)
7: Sam Goertz (Sr., Bellevue, Wash/Issaquah/Bellevue College)
6: Steve Rosts (Fr., Jordan, Ont., Canada/Eden)
5: Peter Lancashire (Fr., Port Macquarie, Australia)
4: Alexander Vollmer (So., Hamburg, Germany)
3: Connor Gann (So., El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge)
2: Evan Olson (Jr., Bothell, Wash./Bothell)
Bow: David Bridges (So., Portland, Ore./Jesuit)
 
VARSITY 4+
Shell: Lou Gellermann
Stroke: Cole Zwierzynski (So., Portland, Ore./Franklin)
3: Sam Pettet (Sr., Seattle, Wash./Garfield)
2: Mason Pollock (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif./Gunnary School)
Bow: Max Rennie (Jr., Deniliquin, Australia)
Cox: Adam Gold (Fr., Seattle, Wash./Seattle Academy)
 
UW's IRA HISTORY
In total, the UW has won 18 Varsity Challenge Cups, 29 Kennedy Challenge Cups (junior varsity eight/second varsity eight), 27 Stewards Cups (freshman eight; third varsity eight), 11 Eric W. Will Trophies (varsity four), one third varsity eight title (prior to the 3V8 winner earning the Stewards Cup) and 15 Ten Eyck Trophies. Here's a list of each:
 
Varsity Challenge Cups (MV8+)
1923, 1924, 1926, 1936, 1937,
1940, 1941, 1948, 1950, 1970,
1997, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014, 2015
 
Kennedy Challenge Cups (M2V8)
1925, 1926, 1927, 1935, 1936,
1937, 1938, 1940, 1948, 1949,
1950, 1953, 1956, 1964, 1972,
1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007,
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2015, 2017, 2018
 
Stewards Cups
(Given to MF8+ 1900-2016; 3V8+ 2017-)
1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937,
1939, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950,
1951, 1953, 1961, 1969, 1997,
2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010,
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016,
2017, 2018
 
Eric W. Will Trophies (MV4+)
2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011,
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016,
2017
 
Third Varsity Eight (M3V8+)
2015
 
Freshman Four (MF4+)
2008
 
Ten Eyck Trophies (Men's Points Champion)
1953, 1959, 1964, 1970, 2007,
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,
2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018