With Eastern Sprints less than two weeks away, this weekend marked the end of the Duel season for many collegiate teams. Whilst rankings were seemingly solidified in the Heavyweight’s, the Lightweights were home to some final shocks before the first major East Coast regatta.
The Carnegie Cup
Princeton asserted their dominance again on Sunday as they finished their undefeated Duel season with a record-breaking five second margin over Yale. Having now defeated three of the other Top 5 ranked rowing programs their No. 1 ranking appears more deserved every week. Princeton dispatched Yale and Cornell again in the Second Varsity; although Yale would claim victories in the lower boats as Cornell rounded out the races.
The Adams Cup
Penn’s Fourth Varsity was the only thing stopping the Crimson from a sweep in Maryland. However, although Al Monte’s Quakers were unable to topple Harvard this year, they finished the race with contact, and led initially from the start in a brutal headwind. Penn have had a habit these past two seasons of successfully hanging with, but not beating, much more renowned crews. This result may be their most impressive to date considering Harvard won the IRA Sarasota Invitational less than a month ago, and could suggest that Penn will be ready to take some scalps at Sprints.
The Lake Morey Invitational
This weekend marked the second running of the Lake Morey Invitational, hosted by Dartmouth College in Vermont. With Syracuse, BU, Wisconsin, Georgetown all attending its multiple race format is intended to replicate the multiple race-a-day format of the Eastern Sprints. Dartmouth won the most races of any college there, but lost the blue riband event to Syracuse for the second time in a row. The ‘Cuse-Dartmouth rivalry has been one of the most interesting collegiate rivalries over the last decade with the teams rising up the national ranks together, culminating in national medals and Charles Headships. Although both crews have struggled for form so far this season in the Varsity, perhaps their tight racing and rivalry will push them on towards the later half of the season.
The BU Second Varsity also shone, beating Dartmouth by under two seconds. BU have been swept by the Big Green the last two seasons, so to turn around what was only recently a substantial margin at this time of the season is very promising for them. Wisconsin also had a strong showing, only a handful of seconds off Dartmouth in the Varsity.
The Subin Cup
The most surprising result of the weekend occurred on the Connecticut in the Lightweights. No. 9 Dartmouth defied the bookies and beat No. 5 Columbia by nine seconds in the hail and thunder. This marks the first time the Dartmouth Lights have won the event in a dozen years, a feat they repeat after beating Yale for the first time since 2012 last week. Having been cut as a Varsity sport four years ago, Dartmouth Light’s achievements against the odds are remarkable, and it seems they will qualify for IRAs for the second time in as many years next week at the Sprints.
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