Cornell women’s crew had mixed success this Saturday against strong Yale and Syracuse teams in Syracuse, N.Y. The Red (1-2) swept all the novice and four-seat races but neither varsity boat could pick up a win. While the first varsity boat finished well behind both Syracuse and Yale, its time of 6:44.3 was almost nine seconds faster than that of last week.
Lightweights
The men’s lightweight boats also raced on the Inlet Saturday, sweeping Ivy foe Pennsylvania to retain the coveted Matthews Cup. First contested in 1937, the Matthews Cup is one of the longest standing lightweight trophies in the country and always proves to be a great motivating factor for the Red.
Also racing Saturday was a powerful Harvard team that matched the Red’s three wins with three of its own. Cornell’s first varsity team stayed with the Crimson for the first 1,000 meters of the race, but the more experienced Harvard boat was too much for the youthful Red, which fell to 1-2 on the season.
While he obviously would have liked a sweep of Harvard as well, head lightweight coach Todd Kennett noted that several of the boats showed a lot more speed than last weekend and feels confident that they will gain even more speed in next week’s contests.
The heavyweights traveled to Princeton’s Lake Carnegie to take on a much weaker Georgetown team. The Red swept all races against the Hoyas, improving to 2-0 on the season. While the men are happy to add another win to their record, poor conditions led to slower times than expected, and the first varsity boat finished just two seconds ahead of the second varsity team. This week’s practices may be interesting for the Red, as this close proximity indicates that an evaluation of boat members may be in order.
All three Cornell teams will return to the Cayuga Lake Inlet this Saturday, April 14th. Both men’s squads will face Rutgers, and the heavyweight races will also feature Princeton. The women will also take on the Tigers, along with naional powerhouse Radcliffe.
Archived article by Sarah Spain