LAKE NATOMA, CALIF. -- Yale won its third straight national title in heavyweight, while Cornell capped an undefeated season with its fourth national championship since 2014 after an impressive showing this afternoon at the 117th edition of the IRA Regatta, held on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.
 
Yale won its third straight national title this morning, and all boats medaled for the first time in Yale's history. The 1V won gold, the 2V won bronze, and the 3V won silver. This is Yale Head Coach Steve Gladstone's 14th national title. 

After winning the heat and semi, the No. 1 ranked first varsity rowed out of lane two in today's final. The Bulldogs launched off the start establishing an early lead over the Washington Huskies. By the first 500, the Elis had a half-length lead as the two crews moved away from the remainder of the field. At the 1000 mark, Yale was bow to stern over Washington. Despite a push by the Huskies, Yale maintained its lead, finishing just over 3 seconds ahead of Washington.

Over the span of five years, Cornell has posted four undefeated seasons and won four national titles, the best stretch since the program won three consecutive IRA titles from 2006 to 2008. Cornell has now won the IRA crown in seven of the last 12 seasons and eight times overall since the lightweight championship was added in 1990.  
 
The race began with an aggressive start by Yale but Cornell stayed with the Bulldogs and soon left the Ivy foe in its wake. By the 1,000-meter barrier the Big Red had a large lead of nearly a full length on the rest of the field, which it maintained until a late push by Princeton. The Tigers showed impressive speed over the final 500 to nearly catch the Big Red, but Cornell held on to win by just less than a deck in a time of 5:44.426.
 
Princeton took silver in a time 5:44.849 and Penn earned bronze (5:46.244).