Head of the Charles

On Saturday, two Illini crews competed at the Head of the Charles in Boston, MA. As this is an incredibly popular event, entries are difficult to secure. Boats that place in the top half of their category in the previous year automatically qualify while the rest of the field hopes to make it in through a lottery. This year, Illinois had two men's fours in the Collegiate and Club events entered through the lottery.Men's Club Four+Up first, the men's club four of Alex Cosman, James Hanson, Curtis Bezault, Kevin McGing, and Hagar Salama, came through the course with a raw time of 19:16.00. Good enough to take 40th out of 53 crews. Unfortunately, the boat missed a few buoys around one of the difficult turns and were administered 35 seconds in penalties, dropping them to 48th overall. While the boat did not automatically qualify for next year's regatta, this was a great race for a crew that was all at their first Head of the Charles.Men's Collegiate Four+Later that afternoon, it was the men's collegiate four chance to shine. The lineup consisted of James Pieper, Nate Tucker, Andrew Holm, Will Klock, and Sarah Betadam. While the crew was not entirely happy with their performance, they were able to throw down a very strong race against a tough field and came across the line in 18:04.00. Good enough to take 14th out of 48 crews and secure an automatic bid for next year's event!Full results can be found here.