April 1, 2002

Crew Sweeps in First Regatta

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The women’s and men’s heavyweight crews swept the competition in the first races of the season this weekend on the Cayuga Inlet.

The heavyweights won each of their five races against Michigan. The freshman boats enjoyed sizable margins of victory over their Wolverine rivals, as did the second and third varsity boats. The tenacious crew of the third varsity boat did particularly well, producing the fourth fastest time of the day.

“The third boat performed better than expected,” said head coach Dan Roock.

The varsity race was considerably tighter, with Cornell fighting to maintain its one-boat lead on Michigan all the way to the line. It posted a time of 5:52.1, which bested Michigan’s performance by just over three seconds.

Coach Roock said he was pleased with the race results but stressed that there is still work to be done.

“The team performed well, but there were some concerns raised after watching them race the full distance for the first time,” said Roock. “But all around, it was a good day. They showed great promise.”

The women also showed potential, as they pulled their way to an undefeated weekend against opponents Georgetown and George Washington. In a combined second and third varsity race, the Cornell women quickly dropped the competition and clocked in at 7:06 and 7:12.4, respectively.

In the varsity race, Cornell continued to extend its lead as the course progressed, finishing with a time of 6:41.5 over the Colonels (6:54.6) and the Hoyas (7:03.1).

The women’s novice boats also took first in their respective races. The second novice boat sailed to victory with its nearest competition, trailing by almost twenty-two seconds.

In perhaps the most interesting race of the day, the first novice boat earned a solid win after narrowly avoiding a collision with a misguided Georgetown shell. The boat was forced into Cornell’s territory while trying to avoid three men’s crews warming up in its lane.

Averted disasters aside, head coach Melanie Onufrieff was happy with her team’s performance.

“Their intensity was good, and they were well prepared,” said Onufrieff. “There are things to improve upon, but as a starting point, we’ll take it.”

On Saturday the women will travel to New Haven to face Yale and Syracuse. The heavyweights will battle Georgetown in Princeton, NJ.

Archived article by Meredith Long