Men's Heavyweight Crew Named Finalist for 2008 Crew of the Year by Row2K.com
12/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Heavyweight Rowing
NEW YORK -- After one of the most successful seasons in the program's recent history, the Columbia University men's heavyweight crew was named a finalist for the 2008 Crew of the Year by Row2K.com, an online publication devoted exclusively to rowing around the world. Columbia is one of 10 finalists for the award, and one of only three collegiate teams up for the honor (Cornell's Lightweight Eight and Wisconsin's Heavyweight Eight).
The Lions won the Blackwell Cup for the first time in 67 years in 2008, and just 24 hours after that victory completed a miraculous back-to-back as they won the Maxwell Stevenson Cup on Lake Carnegie for the first time in 45 years. The victories earned Columbia Row2K.com's first national Crew of the Week Award, which was voted on by more than 3,000 people.
All told, Columbia won a record five cup races as it also captured the Collins Cup against Rutgers, the Alumni Cup vs. MIT and Holy Cross, and the Doc Lusins Trophy against Syracuse and Boston University. The Lions reached the Grand Final of the Eastern Sprints for the first time since 1955, then earned a spot in the Grand Final of the IRA National Championship Regatta for the first time in modern collegiate rowing. The heavyweights capped an impressive 2008 season with a trip to the Thames River in England for the Henley Royal Regatta.
Voting for the 2008 Crew of the Year is currently underway and will conclude on the evening of Thursday, December 11. Fans can vote by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
