BOSTON, Mass. – The Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) announced the recipients of the league’s postseason awards. Steve Gladstone and Yale’s Varsity Eight were named Heavyweight Coach and Crew of the Year for the second-straight year while, Colin Farrell and University of Pennsylvania’s Varsity Eight swept the lightweight honors. United States Naval Academy Lightweight Varsity Eight earned the Rusty Callow Award.
The awards were voted on by the EARC coaching contingency.
Yale’s Varsity Eight captured heavyweight crew of the year honors after racing to a first-place finish at Sprints and defeating rival, Harvard University, by nearly six seconds The victory marked the fifth consecutive first-place finish in the heavyweight eight for the Eli.
Gladstone was named EARC Men’s heavyweight coach of the year after leading Yale to an impressive performance at Sprints. The team earned the Rowe Cup, awarded to the best overall performances across the varsity eight, second varsity eight and third varsity eight events. This was the third-straight Rowe Cup for Yale.
On the lightweight side, Penn’s Varsity Eight was named lightweight crew of the year after their eye-popping gold medal performance. It started with the morning heat as the Quakers were tied for the fifth seed; but they clipped top-seeded and undefeated Cornell University to punch their ticket into the Grand Final. Then, Penn came out strong in the first 500 in the afternoon final and never looked back, posting a winning time of 6:34.753.
Farrell, was recognized as lightweight coach of the year by his peers after guiding the program to their first gold medal in the varsity eight since 1976 and just the second since 1955. All of the Penn lightweight boats surpassed their seeds at Sprints on the weekend as the second varsity eight earned bronze (seeded sixth) and the third varsity eight raced to a fifth-place finish in the Grand Final (seeded seventh).
Navy’s Lightweight Varsity Eight earned the Rusty Callow Award after their impressive resurgence at Sprints. The Mids’ varsity eight were originally seeded seventh coming into the championship and outperformed those projections on Lake Quinsigamond throughout the day. The crew put together the fourth-fastest time in the morning heats to earn a spot in a hotly contest Grand Final. They crossed the line at 6:37.953 for a third-place finish and bronze medal, marking the first varsity eight medal for Navy at sprints since 2006.
"Being awarded the 2019 Callow Award is a tremendous honor, considering both the man it is named for and the crews that were nominated this year,” stated Navy Lightweight Head Coach Shawn Bagnall. “We are humbled by this recognition and hope to continually put out crews that are worthy to be considered. Thank you to the EARC Head Coaches and US Rowing for this distinction, both acknowledging our 1st Varsity 8+, and the hard working team behind it."
The Rusty Callow Award is presented each year by the EARC to the crew that, in the previous year, best personified the virtues of “spirit, courage and unity.” Awarded annually since 1963, the winner of the award is determined by a vote of the head coaches of the EARC. Rusty Callow was a legendary rowing coach, whose career spanned the first half of the 20th century. Rusty coached for many years at Washington, the University of Pennsylvania, and Navy. Among his many accomplishments, Callow coached the 1952 Navy crew to an Olympic gold medal.