Though the Cornell crews have had varied fortunes on the water in recent competition, all three enter the weekend with a common goal – to pull their way to victory against Ancient Eight foes.
The men’s heavyweight squad will look to rebound after last weekend’s disappointing showing – the Red finished 18 seconds behind first-place Syracuse – and take on Yale and Princeton for the Carnegie Cup here in Ithaca tomorrow.
The lightweight crew will travel to New York City to take on Columbia’s competitive crew, while the women will host their only home race of the year, the Dunn Bowl, featuring races against Brown and Columbia.
The heavyweight crew will look to regain its early-season form – three weeks ago, its boats took every race against Georgetown, beating the Hoyas by an average of three seconds in each race.
This weekend will prove challenging for the Red, since its opponents are among the toughest in Ivy competition.
Yale remains unbeaten so far this season and is coming off a weekend which saw the Bulldogs convincingly beat Columbia and Penn. The Princeton squad is coming off its own victorious weekend to remain undefeated at 5-0, crossing the line ahead of Harvard to claim its first victory in the Compton Cup since 1957.
The lightweight crew will be looking to continue its run of success this season. In contrast to the heavyweight crew, the lightweights are coming off a victory over Princeton and Rutgers in the Platt Cup last weekend. Head coach Todd Kennett ’91 sounded upbeat when discussing his crew’s chances against Columbia.
“We had a pretty positive week of practices,” Kennett said. “I’ve got to think we have confidence in ourselves [going into the race]. Columbia is pretty darn good … technically efficient, really good power, similar to us with its youth.”
One of the key features of the lightweight crew so far this season has been its inexperience, which it has managed to overcome through its natural power and work ethic. Kennett now sees his crew advancing in technical areas, making the Cornell boats more well-rounded and competitive.
“We had good technical changes this week – a lot more boat skill, more unified blade work, we took a really positive step the last few days.”
Kennett expects a competitive race and sees this contest as another test for his crew.
“It’s going to be a heck of a race … a race for every stroke down the course. We’ll see who’s [the] better crew,” he said.
The women’s squad hopes for a strong showing this weekend in its only home race of the season.
Just like the men’s crews, the women’s crew will face stiff competition from its Ivy competitors this weekend, as Brown and Columbia make their way to Cayuga Inlet.
Brown is coming off an undefeated weekend against Boston University and its varsity boats have continued to show themselves as some of the more dominant racers in the league.
Meanwhile, Columbia is hoping to avenge its loss last weekend against Northeastern, who defeated the Lions by five seconds.
Cornell is seeking an all-around strong performance, hoping its varsity boats can continue improving on their technical skills while the novice boats continue their winning ways after last weekend’s victory over Penn and Rutgers.
Archived article by Tim Perone
Sun Staff Writer