4/1/2002
Ithaca, NY -- The Women's Crew officially opened its spring season on Saturday against EAWRC league members George Washington and host Cornell University. Although racing conditions were quite good, the racing by Georgetown's varsity was sub-par resulting in a likewise result. The crew got off the line in a rather sloppy fashion, but then appeared to hold the other crews during its midrange strokes before shifting to race cadence. The shift to race cadence, however, was not cleanly made and the varsity then failed to establish a strong, clean racing rhythm. As Georgetown continued to struggle for its rhythm, Cornell and GW began to pull away during the second five hundred of the race. Cornell went on to win the race comfortably in a time of 6:41.5, ahead of second place GW (6:54.6) with Georgetown crossing the line in 7:03.1.
Earlier in the morning the Frosh/Novice 8s were contested between the three schools. The Frosh/Novice 8 race was discussed long after its conclusion due to interference encountered by the Hoyas during their race. Cornell raced off the line well with Georgetown and GW trailing by as much as a length. At around the halfway mark of the race the Hoyas began to move back into the Cornell crew gaining an overlap with the leading Big Red. As this was occurring, three crews were rowing to the starting area in Georgetown's lane one for a later men's race. Because the Cornell racecourse is only three lanes wide, the errant crews had no place to go. Coxswain Emma Jurado C'05 quickly assessed the situation and alertly called her crew down from racing speed so that she could move into Cornell's lane without colliding into her competitors. Emma then called her crew back up to racing speed and slid back into her racing lane after passing the crews sitting in lane one. To complicate matters, the crews were racing under bridges at that point so that the coxswain also had to navigate the bridge abutments.
The race finished with Cornell crossing first in 7:04.9, Georgetown second in 7:10.6--about a third of a length openwater between the crews--and GW third in 7:14.6. Although Georgetown protested the race, the referee ruled against a re-row declaring that the incident did not affect the outcome. To say that the Hoya crew and their coaches disagreed is to put it lightly. The Georgetown frosh may get a rematch with their Cornell counterparts at the season-ending EAWRC Sprints championship.
Later that morning the Women's Lightweight Varsity 8 placed second in a race with Marist College and Ithaca College. The Red Foxes of Marist were quicker than the Hoyas off the starting line, but Georgetown was able to establish their racing rhythm to keep them in the race. Although Marist led from start to finish, the Hoyas raced them as closely as one or two seats during parts of the race. Marist pulled away in the last five hundred winning in a time of 7:03.7, Georgetown finished second in 7:07.9 and Ithaca third in 7:25.4.
Complete racing results can be viewed at the website row2k.com.
