This past weekend, the team traveled to Indianapolis to compete at the Head of the Eagle. The Varsity entered a two eights and a four, while the Novice entered four eights and a four. All boats competed in the head race, with the eights also doing a 1000m sprint in the afternoon. There was a strong wind on the reservoir, with large waves rolling across the majority of the course (many tall enough to come over the gunwales).

The highlight of the head race was the 2V bringing home the gold in their category, beating Grand Valley, Purdue, and Michigan. The 1V came in 4th in the Varsity A race, and the V4+ placed 10th in their race.

The 1N came in 5th in the Novice A category, while the 2N, 3N, and 4N came in 4th, 11th, and 7th, respectively, in the Novice B race. The N4+ came in 7th in the Novice 4 category.

As a whole, the team performed significantly better in afternoon. The 1000m sprints were organized so that the 1st place from the head race went up against 2nd place, 3rd raced 4th, and so on. The 1V got another shot at Purdue, who finished in 3rd place in the head race. Eager to get another shot, the 1V beat Purdue's 1V by 6 seats. The 2V turned in another impressive performance, this time beating Illinois' 1V decidedly. All of the Novice eights also won their head races.

Our strong finish in the 1000m dual sprints ended our day of racing on a great note, giving us some momentum heading into winter training, and optimism for the spring season.