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91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ men's victory bittersweet as Queen's women rule, capture annual boat race by one second

Published: 2 May 2010

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(PHOTO BY GARY RUSH)

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MONTREAL - The Queen's University rowing team needed the assistance of a tie-breaker to edge 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ by one second and capture the 14th annual 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ-Queen's Challenge boat race held on the Lachine Canal, Sunday.

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The unique regatta is the Canadian equivalent of the famed Oxford-Cambridge and Harvard-Yale races. Queen's, which avenged last-year's loss to 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ, now lead the all-time series 8-6 between the archrivals since the head-to-head competition was first introduced in 1997.

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91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ swept all four races in the men's competition to capture the Challenge Blade for the first time since 2003. The Redmen have won the trophy six times in 13 years.

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But Queen's matched that by sweeping all four events in the women's division to merit the Challenge trophy, ending a two-year win streak for the Martlets and improving their all-time record to 8-4 against the 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ women.

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At the end of the day, the rivals were tied in the scoring and race officials broke the deadlock using the varsity boat that had the largest margin of victory. The Redmen varsity eight had completed their race in nine minutes and 12 seconds, finishing five seconds ahead of Queen's. However, the Gaels women won their race in 10:45, six seconds ahead of the Martlets, which gave Queen's a one-second victory and the Lorne Gales trophy as overall champions.

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A maneuvering error by the 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ varsity eight in the 2.8km race proved costly. While leading at the 1,000m mark, the Redmen crew hit a buoy, which allowed Queen's to catch up and take the lead. 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ rallied, however, to win the race by a boat length but it proved to be a bittersweet victory as their shorter margin of victory ended up being the deciding factor when the tie-breaking procedure was deployed.

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"It was a beautiful sunny day and everything worked as planned, except for us winning the overall title," said 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ's Renaud Garon-Gendron, a 21-year-old Science sophomore from Boucherville, Que. "We thank the organizing committee and the Lachine rowing club for their much-appreciated efforts in organizing this regatta."

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"Today was about redemption," said Queen's rower Jacqueline Day. "We have done very poorly at this regatta in the last two years, and we trained really hard this year to bring back the prestigious Women's Challenge Trophy. We've come a long way in the last year, and this race sets us up really nicely for the fall season."

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Each school raced men's and women's boats in a pair of heats, in both novice and varsity heavyweight categories, for a 2.8-kilometre headrace, followed by a head-to-head in 500m sprint. Points were awarded for each victory.

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Lorne Gales Challenge Cup Overall Champions

2010 - Queen's

2009 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2008 - Queen's

2007 - Queen's

2006 - Queen's

2005 - Queen's

2004 - Queen's

2003 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2002 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2001 - Queen's

2000 - Queen's

1999 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

1998 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

1997 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

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Men's Challenge Blade Champions

2010 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2009 - Queen's

2008 - Queen's

2007 - Queen's

2006 - Queen's

2005 - Queen's

2004 - Queen's

2003 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2002 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2001 - Queen's

2000 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

1999 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

1998 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

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Women's Challenge Trophy Champions

2010 - Queen's

2009 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2008 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2007 - Queen's

2006 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

2005 - Queen's

2004 - Queen's

2003 - Queen's

2002 - Queen's

2001 - Queen's

2000 - Queen's

1999 - 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

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SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ Athletics

(514) 398-7012

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