This weekend was a mixed bag for the Boston University rowing teams, as the women won seven of eight races in two regattas to down three separate opponents while the men were swept in all four of theirs – including a close varsity loss – to drop the Michalson Cup to Brown University.
On Saturday, the women’s team turned in terrific performances in both the morning and afternoon to beat George Washington University, the United States Naval Academy and Georgetown University on the Potomac River.
BU took the first varsity race in a time of 5:43 to defeat George Washington, which finished in 5:45. In the second varsity race, BU clocked in at 5:54, three seconds behind first-place Navy and four seconds ahead of third-place George Washington.
BU also fared well in the novice races, winning the first one with a time of 5:54, compared to 6:07 for Navy and 6:52 for George Washington. No official time was kept in the second novice race, but the Terriers again finished in first place, 5.4 seconds ahead of Navy and 7.4 seconds ahead of George Washington.
BU women’s coach Holly Hatton was impressed with the team’s ability to deal with the unfavorable conditions of the first race.
“The conditions were pretty outrageous,” Hatton said. “The current was huge, and there was a lot of debris in the water.
“I thought all of our crews did an awesome job,” Hatton continued. “The conditions forced us to be behind in many of the races, but we battled back.”
In the afternoon, BU swept all four races against Georgetown. The Terriers won the featured varsity race by 17 seconds, 5:23 to 5:40. In the second varsity row, BU edged out the Hoyas, 5:43 to 5:45.
In the first novice race, BU defeated Georgetown by three seconds, 6:07 to 6:10, and the Terriers again clocked in at 6:07 in the second novice, with the Georgetown “A” boat finishing in 6:10 and the “B” boat completing the course in 6:22.
Hatton said the tough conditions of the first race benefited BU in the second race.
“It was a great learning experience,” Hatton said. “We dealt with adversity, we learned a lot and we came back and raced much better against Georgetown.”
Though the season is still young, Hatton said she is confident in the team’s chances to have a great spring campaign.
“We’re not overconfident, but we’re feeling good,” Hatton said. “This is a young team that is showing a lot of unexpected speed.”
The men’s team battled the entire way in its varsity showdown with Brown Saturday on Lake Seekonk in Providence, R.I., but it was not enough, as the Bears took the first race with a one-second win before sweeping BU the rest of the way.
The BU varsity team turned in a time of 5:43.3, just a hair behind Brown’s 5:42.2. After jumping out to a quick lead, the Terriers watched their opponents pull ahead at the midway mark of the 2,000-meter race. BU made a push to nearly retake the lead, but the Terriers fell short in the waning moments of the final sprint.
After the closeness of the first varsity race, the rest of the match was not quite as tight. BU’s second varsity team was defeated by 12 seconds, 5:53.4 to 6:05.8. Brown’s winning margin in the first freshman race was nearly 10 seconds – 5:56.5 to 6:06.3 – while in the second freshman race, the Terriers came in at 6:27.5 compared to Brown’s 6:14.4 finish.
The women’s team will take on Dartmouth College and Yale University Sunday, as the men prepare to battle Northeastern University for the Arlett Cup at home on the Charles River Saturday.
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