ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell men's lightweight rowing team will officially begin its 2024-25 season this Sunday, Oct. 20, when it sends a trio of crews to suburban Boston for its annual trip to the highly-regarded Head of the Charles Regatta.

"The team is working hard and prep for the Head of the Charles is going well," said Tyler Nase, the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Lightweight Rowing. "We have been rowing a lot of small boats in the mornings and rowing in the 8+s in the afternoons. The freshman are integrating well."

Cornell will look to retain the Coleman Cup for a second consecutive season as it has a pair of entries in the men's lightweight four (MLW4+) that will launch at 12:48 p.m.

At last year's Head of the Charles, Cornell's 'A' 4+ finished first out of 17 entries, registering its second Coleman Cup victory. The crew, composed of Aden Walsey at coxswain, Axel Ljunggren at stroke, Connor Eaton, Sebastian Pardo, and Charles Mitz at bow, registered a wire-to-wire victory with a time of 16:57.080, edging Penn by 0.0743 seconds. Cornell's first-place finish last year ensured the Big Red has earned at least one medal in seven of its last nine appearances at the Head of the Charles. The Big Red's 'B' 4+ placed 11th last season.

The pair of 4+ crews will be competing against crews from the University of British Columbia, Georgetown, Gordon College, Harvard, Kingston Rowing Club (Ontario), and Penn. The Big Red is one of three institutions with multiple entries, joined by fellow Ivy League rivals Harvard and Penn.

Cornell will also compete against 12 other crews for the Jack Bakey Cup in the men's lightweight eight (MLW8+). Launch time is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. Other competitors in the event include Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Yale, and against a pair of international competitors in U.S.R. Triton (Netherlands) and the World Lightweight Rowing Alliance (Australia).

Cornell is a three-time winner of the Jack Bakey Cup, last winning with a time of 15:43.872 in 2018. Its first two victories in the MLW8+ was back in 1976 (16:13.6) and 1979 (16:18.4).

ALUMNI REPORT
Lightweight rowing alum Ben Hopkins '22 will be rowing alongside his siblings in a mixed 8+ for the Directors' Challenge at the Head of the Charles. Launch time is scheduled for Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. The Hopkins' family will be rowing as Bow 9 on Sunday and will be going up against 31 other crews. Ben will be in the No. 5 seat of the crew.

The Hopkins family will be rowing to raise awareness and funds for research for glioblastoma multiforme (GMA), a rare form of brain cancer, in memory of their father, Matt, who lost his battle with GMA in September of 2022.

To learn more information on the Hopkins' family reason to row at this year's Head of the Charles, visit 4702forgbm.com.

BOATINGS
MLW4+ (Bow #1): Joycelyn Vu (coxswain), Jack Oliveira (stroke), Eric Genden, Colin Bailey, Patrick Reilly (bow).

MLW4+ (Bow #8): Mia Goldstein (coxswain), Luke Zaslow (bow), Gabe Xu, Evan Yang, Tomas Eliot Foxley (bow).

MLW8+ (Bow #3): Aden Walsey (coxswain), Jack Savell (stroke), Emmett Patterson, Sam Alston, Peter Albrecht, Andrew Hohlt, Nathan Bechard, Grant Smith, Eliott Swinney (bow).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Subject to change)
12:48 p.m. — MLW 4+
Bow 1: Cornell 'A'; Bow 2: Penn 'A'; Bow 3: University of British Columbia; Bow 4: Harvard 'A'; Bow 5: Harvard 'B'; Bow 6: Penn 'B'; Bow 7: Georgetown; Bow 8: Cornell 'B'; Bow 9: Gordon College; Bow 10: Kingston Rowing Club.

2:02 p.m. — MLW 8+
Bow 1: Harvard 'A'; Bow 2: Penn 'A'; Bow 3: Cornell; Bow 4: Dartmouth; Bow 5: Yale; Bow 6: Princeton 'A'; Bow 7: Georgetown; Bow 8: MIT; Bow 9: Princeton 'B'; Bow 10: Penn 'B'; Bow 11: World Lightweight Rowing Alliance; Bow 12: Dartmouth; Bow 13: U.S.R. Triton