Oct. 20, 2011

2011 Head of the Charles race schedule

Head of the Charles race course

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford men's rowing will participate in its first event of the fall Sunday afternoon, as the Cardinal sends a crew to compete in the championship fours event of the 2011 Head of the Charles in Boston.

Representing the Cardinal in the event will be coxswain Alex Topacio, Peter Leemputte in the bow seat, Dean Walker in the No. 2 seat, Austin Hack at No. 3 and Cam Dupre rowing stroke.

The race is scheduled for an 11:24 a.m. start.

"The fall head races are pre-season exhibition races in focus and lend insight into the fall training cycle," said Stanford men's rowing head coach Craig Amerkhanian. "Our entire team has been training with extreme intention on achieving maximum fitness. Our five athletes here are representative of our greater squad and their united commitment to the daily work that is our culture at Stanford."

The quintet will start third on the famed Charles River course, behind the U.S. National Team and California. Harvard will start fourth, behind the Cardinal.

The race course starts at the Boston University Boathouse and goes almost immediately under the combination of a railroad trestle bridge and the B.U. Bridge. It then proceeds through five triple-arch bridges to the Finish Line approximately three miles upstream.

Stanford's men have medaled in the championship four at the event four previous times, including 2006 when the Cardinal defeated all collegiate entries. In that race, the Cardinal defeated two U.S. National Team entries and came in behind only the Canadian National Team.