The No. 9 Boston University men’s crew varsity eight team narrowly beat out No. 14 Dartmouth College by a mere 0.8 seconds to capture its fifth-straight Bill Cup amid blustery conditions Saturday morning, completing the one-kilometer course in 5:51.3. BU also swept the day’s other three events.
In the day’smost exciting event, the Terriers, led by sophomore coxswain Bobby McGee and junior stroker Sebastian Muller, jumped out to a quick lead over Dartmouth and Rutgers University after the first 500 meters, but were able to just barely cling to that lead before the Big Green nearly nipped them at the end. The Scarlet Knights never proved to be much of a threat, finishing half a minute behind the two lead boats.
Earlier in the day, the Terriers’ freshman eight team made sure that its undefeated spring season was never in doubt as it coasted to a comfortable 10.9-second win over Dartmouth, finishing only 4.7 seconds off the varsity’s pace.
Although not as tight as the primary varsity race, the second varsity eight eked out a 2.7-second win while the second freshman/third varsity team beat out the Big Green by 6.3 seconds. Rutgers never finished closer than 30 seconds behind a single BU boat in all of the four shows.
The close Bill Cup victory for the varsity eight squad comes a week after a disappointing 1.3-second loss to a Charles River rival, then-No. 10 Northeastern University, in the Arlett Cup. The team will now move on to defend last year’s victory Lusins Cup over Columbia University. They will also look to end Syracuse University’s four-year reign over the Conlan Cup.
Both cups will coincide in New York this Saturday.
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