BOSTON – The Big Red men's lightweight rowing program sent two boats to compete at the 54th Head of the Charles and came home with two medals, including a gold in the Men's Lightweight Eights event.

The victory in the men's lightweight eight is the third overall for the Big Red in the 54-year history of the event, and the first since the 1979. 

"For both crews heading into the Charles weekend we didn't have many speed benchmarks to measure ourselves," said Chris Kerber, the  Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing. "Despite this the athletes threw themselves at the very raw conditions of racing, at times it was very windy and cold, with plenty of chop. The savvy tactical steering of the coxwains and the Big Red alumni and families who came out to support us, contributed immensely to our success." 
 
Cornell's eight earned its third consecutive medal after taking silver at each of the last two HOC regattas. The crew was coxed by Molly Rochford and crossed the line in a time of 15:43.872, nearly three seconds ahead of second place Princeton (15:46.258) and well ahead of Yale, who took third in 15:52.958.

"Our goal was to go out there and race and that's what we did," said Rochford.
 
The lightweight four, coxed by Rori Henderson earned a silver medal behind Georgetown. Cornell finished the race in 17:53.270.

"Once we got into the more protected waters we were able to find our rhythm and really move on other crews," said David Tigerman, second seat in the 4+.
 
Cornell is back in action next Sunday, Oct. 29 when it travels to New Jersey to participate in the Princeton Chase.
 
Boatings
Men's Lightweight 8+
Coxswain: Molly Rochford
Stroke: Sorin Koszyk
7: Cameron Bertossa
6: Luke Small
5: Alex Kost
4: Eric Lee
3: Henry Ellis
2: Luke Sendelbach
Bow: Andrew Hickey
 
Men's Lightweight 4+
Coxswain: Rori Henderson
Stroke: Evan Krum
3: Nick Anderson
2: David Tigerman
Bow: Jules Kramer