Youth on the Charles

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Stanford lightweight rowing team began its 2014-15 fall season on Sunday with an eighth place finish in the women’s lightweight eights at the 50th Head of the Charles.

The Cardinal featured a young lineup with four freshmen and three sophomores among the nine in the boat. With an average age of 19.3, Stanford had the second youngest lineup in the race behind MIT (19.1).  The four freshmen making their collegiate debut were coxswain Shea Cours, Isabelle Foster, Blaire Hunter and Hannah Levy.

The youth combined with less than a month of training together and strong headwinds made the 5,000-meter race that much more difficult. Other college crews have been training for nearly two months now.

Despite the challenges, Stanford had a good performance with a time of 18:04.45. They were fifth among colleges in the event.

Head of the Charles was the first of two fall regattas for the Cardinal. They will wrap up the fall competition schedule in two weeks at the Head of the Lagoon in Foster City, Calif.

Stanford Lightweight 8+ Lineup
Cox - Shea Cours
Stroke - Jackie Huddle
7 - Chrstine Cavallo
6 - Mackenzie Crist
5 - Bailey Yuro
4 - Hannah Levy
3 - Isabelle Foster
2 - Sarah Hirshorn
Bow - Blaire Hunter