Gaels prevail in 15th annual Queen's-McGill Boat Challenge

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Gaels prevail in 15th annual Queen's-McGill Boat Challenge

Published: 1 May 2011

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(McGILL'S WINNING NOVICE CREW. PHOTO COURTESY OF QUEEN'S ROWING CLUB)

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KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's University rowing team won six of eight races to capture the 15th annual Queen's-McGill Boat Challenge on the Cataraqui River in Kingston, Sunday.

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The victory improved Queen's record to 9-6 overall for the Lorne Gales Challenge Cup, which is the Canadian equivalent of the Oxford-Cambridge race in England and the Harvard-Yale competition in the United States.

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The weather was near perfect for racing, with low winds and mild temperatures.

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In the men's division, the Gaels won two of four events, including both varsity heavyweight races, to outscore McGill 4-2 and take home the Challenge Blade for the eighth time in 15 years.

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Two points are awarded for a varsity victory and one point for a novice win.

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The Queen's heavy eight completed the six kilometre head race in 17 minutes, eight seconds, some 46 seconds ahead of the Redmen. In the second race, a 500-metre sprint, Queen's finished six seconds ahead.

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McGill's only victories on the day were in the men's novice competition, winning the head race by 19 seconds and the sprint by three seconds after pulling ahead in the final 30 strokes. The young Redmen crew managed to win the 6k race despite an early collision with a buoy.

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The winning McGill crew included 听Phil Belzile of Longueuil, Que., in the bow seat, followed by Wesley Yland of Northport, N.Y., Mark York of Toronto, Dru Perkins of Montreal West, 听Laurent Tardif of St. Jean Baptiste, Que., 听Yann Beaulieu of Quebec City, Robert Laniel, Gatineau, Que., and Montrealer Philippe Toren in the stroke seat. The coxswain was Philippe Bouchard, a native of Quebec City.

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In the women's division, Queen's swept all four races to win the points count by a 6-0 margin and take home the Challenge trophy for the ninth time in 13 years since it was first presented in 1999.

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The winning heavy eight was clocked in 19:51, which was 86 seconds ahead of the Martlets. The Gaels varsity boat also won the 500m dash by 10 seconds. Queen's dominated the novice crew as well, winning the head race by a huge margin of two minutes and 11 seconds before taking the sprint by 11 seconds.

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This was Queen's first sweep of all three categories (men, women, overall) since 2007. They also accomplished the hat-trick in 2005, 2004 and 2001.

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McGill, which will host next year's event, has won all three trophies only once, in 1999.

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Lorne Gales Challenge Cup Recipients (overall champions)

2011 - Queen's

2010 - Queen's

2009 - McGill

2008 - Queen's

2007 - Queen's

2006 - Queen's