The No. 11 Boston University men’s crew team upset No. 7 Columbia University on Saturday morning to win the Lusins Cup. No. 10 Syracuse University finished first to win the Conlan Cup. In the afternoon, the BU women’s rowing team won three of its four races against Gonzaga as part of the Charles River Challenge.
The men’s team followed up a fourth-consecutive Bill Cup on April 18 by defeating the Lions for the first time since 2006. BU men’s coach Thomas Bohrer credited a stronger team than the one that finished behind both teams last year in Liverpool, N.Y.
‘We are a much different team than last year,’ he said. ‘We know we lost by a fairly significant margin last year, but we also know that we are a better team this year.” ‘
Syracuse beat the Terriers by a second and a half (6:04.7 to 6:06.2). BU’s eight-second margin of victory over Columbia (6:14.1) was the largest since 2004. Bohrer noted that the competition was stronger compared to last week.
‘We definitely needed to elevate our game,’ Bohrer said. ‘Our goal is to make it into finals at sprints and get a medal.’
BU’s second varsity eight finished first with a time of 6:17.6, and its freshman eight team finished second. Its two varsity four boats finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
‘I’m happy that we are right in there with ranked teams,’ Bohrer said. ‘I’m satisfied as a coach and I know the athletes are as well.’
Bohrer noted that the last few races by the Terriers have been close, and he said he believes that the team will eventually overcome the ‘wall’ they need to climb to victory.
‘We need to make sure that we press the entire time, and we need to make sure to be consistent throughout,’ he said.
The men’s team will travel to Chicago to race against the University of Wisconsin, George Washington University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With only three races remaining before sprints, the team needs to remain focused, Bohrer said.
‘We have a big weekend ahead of us,’ Bohrer said. ‘We have raced ranked crews all season, but this will be a test.’
The women’s rowing team hosted the third-annual Charles River Challenge, which featured eight schools, including ranked teams Yale University, the University of Southern California, the University of Virginia and Radcliffe College. BU women’s coach Stacey Rippetoe had high expectations for the Challenge.
‘I expected the team would raise its game,’ she said. ‘We worked on increasing the intensity at practice so that we could see exactly when we would lose our composure.”
In the morning session, the women’s team placed second in the varsity eight (7:12.8), second in the second varsity eight (7:25.1) and second in the varsity four (8:47.8), defeating the University of Tennessee in each race. The novice eight (8:04.8) finished third behind Yale and Radcliffe.
‘I’d like to see us keep a tight focus when we have crews on either side of us,’ Rippetoe said.’
The Terriers returned to the Charles in the afternoon and finished no lower than second in four races. The varsity eight (7:27.6), second varsity eight (7:37.5) and varsity four (8:52.2) all defeated Gonzaga University by at least eight seconds, and the novice eight (8:19.9) finished second, ahead of the likes of Northeastern University.
‘All of our crews made positive adjustments from the morning to the afternoon,’ Rippetoe said. ‘The crew needs to believe in their fitness and put any doubts aside so they can focus on moving the boat together.’
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