By wpengine
The men’s crew teams dominated the waters of Cayuga Lake this weekend against competition from Ithaca College, Marist, and Michigan. The heavyweight squad faced off against Marist and Michigan, racing three varsity boats and two freshman boats. The Red swept four of the five races, with Michigan coming in second and Marist third in each contest. The only exception was the third varsity boat face-off, a close race in which Michigan edged the Red by less than one second. “We were really excited,” said senior captain Chris Bender. “The results were really encouraging.” This weekend’s competition was the first race of the spring season for the heavyweight team. The team came into the weekend a little rusty because of its limited practice time on the water in recent weeks. “They were tough competition, but a good warm up,” Bender said. “They weren’t a pushover, but it was a good way to start off the season. “We haven’t been on water in so long it was good we didn’t have the hardest races of the season this weekend.” The heavyweight team will be back in action next week versus Georgetown. The lightweight squad enjoyed even greater success, winning all five of its races against Ithaca College and Marist. “We were excited,” said senior Drew Tennant. “We were confident going in and it was reassuring to get through it and show we have a good base this early in the season.” The Red won the first varsity race by a margin of three seconds, and continued to dominate for the rest of the day. Ithaca College took second and Marist third in each of the day’s contests. The lightweight squad also raced three varsity boats and two freshman boats. “It was a good early season race,” said Tennant. “Marist and Ithaca are not as strong as Harvard and Penn. The general strength of our program is better. “We’ll have to step it up to another level versus Penn.” The freshman lightweight boats had the most dominating performance of the day, as the Red won both races by a margin of nine seconds. The lightweight team will have a weekend off from racing before facing Penn on April 10. Archived article by Olivia Dwyer
By wpengine
“Go west, young netters” was the order of the week for Cornell tennis, as the No. 64 ranked men’s team journeyed to Idaho for the Boise State Invitational, while the women’s squad traveled to California for a series of challenging matches. The men’s team went 2-2 in the tournament, bringing its record to 13-5. The women’s team — who had been undefeated — went 2-2 on the trip, moving its record to 6-2. The men began the 10-team invitational with a match against Sacramento State. The Red cruised to a 6-1 victory, led by wins from seniors Zach Gallin and Scott Paltrowitz at the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively. Next up was a match against No. 60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi — a team that had defeated Cornell earlier this month, 4-0. The netters did not fare much better this time around, dropping the match, 6-1. Senior Scott Spencer earned the Red’s only singles win — a three-set victory at the No. 4 spot. However, Cornell returned to its winning ways on the third day of the tournament, defeating New Mexico State, 4-3. With each team earning three singles wins, the match ultimately came down to the doubles point. Freshmen Nick Brunner and Josh Raff won 8-4 at the No. 1 doubles spot, while the team of Gallin and Spencer earned a victory at the No. 2 doubles spot to give Cornell the crucial point. The Red closed out the tournament with a 4-2 loss against University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Again, Cornell managed only one singles win, this time from sophomore Brett McKeon at the No. 3 spot. The Red dropped the rest of its singles matches in straight sets, although the netters did manage to take the doubles point. The men will begin Ivy League play against Columbia April 3 in Ithaca. The women began their four-game California trip with a close 4-3 win over UC-Riverside. The Highlanders started off strong, winning the doubles point as well as the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches. With no room for error, Cornell managed to win the rest of the singles matches and earn the victory. Junior Erika Takeuchi led the effort, winning 7-6, 6-1 at the No. 3 spot. Next up for the netters was Cal State Fullerton, who handed Cornell its first loss the year, 5-2. Takeuchi and freshman Nisha Suda earned the Red’s only singles wins. Cornell then defeated UC-San Diego 6-1 in a match highlighted by the Red’s only doubles point victory of the trip. Junior Akane Kokubo and Takeuchi won at the No. 1 doubles spot, while junior Melissa Tu and sophomore Mollie Edinson earned a win at No. 2 spot. The Red ended its trip against No. 41 University of San Diego. Cornell was outmatched against a team that included two nationally-ranked players, and the Red lost 7-0.Archived article by Ted NymanSun Staff Writer