Columbia
Boston U., Syracuse (Doc Lusins Trophy)
Heavyweights Win Fifth Cup, Beating Syracuse and B.U. to Finish 10-1
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Heavyweight Rowing
The victory over Boston U. gave the Lions their fifth cup of the spring, of a possible six, and improved their final won-lost record to a sparkling 10-1. Only a final-seconds loss to Princeton in the Childs Cup held Columbia from an undefeated dual-meet season.
“It was a pretty good day of racing all the way around,” head coach Mike Zimmer said.
The best, from a Lion point of view, was the varsity eights race, with two cups at stake, the Doc Lusins Trophy for the Columbia-B.U. winner, and the Conlan Cup, for the B.U.-Syracuse victor. It featured Columbia, ranked fifth by the EARC coaches after winning the Blackwell and Stevenson cups a week ago, and Syracuse, undefeated and a Goes Cup winner for the third straight year.
Both crews got off the starting line well, and the first half of the race was very close, with Boston U. trailing. Columbia took control in the second 1000, and held it until the end of the 2000-meter event, beating Syracuse by 3.4 seconds.
Zimmer was impressed by his crew. “They performed very well,” he said. “They utilized a pretty effective move in the second 1000 to secure the victory. That is a quality Syracuse boat.”
The Lion freshman eight also rowed well, losing to the Orangemen by 8.5 seconds, but beating Boston by a 3.2-second margin. “That was a pretty good outing for the freshmen,” Zimmer noted.
The second varsity race was shaping up as yet another close one, with all three crews virtually level when the Columbia shell fell victim to equipment breakage, immediately followed by an over-the-head crab.
It was too far into the race for a restart, so B.U. and Syracuse continued to row, as Columbia came to a complete stop in the water. Unable to make repairs, the Lion crew continued to the finish line with only seven men rowing.
But the mishap could not put a damper on what Zimmer called “a beautiful day for racing” on often-problematic Onondaga Lake. The Lions had hardly left Syracuse, however, before Zimmer and assistant coach Jon Douglas turned their sights on the Eastern Sprints, three weeks away on May 18 in Worcester, Massachusetts. For the first time in many years, Columbia's varsity heavyweights would be strong contenders for a Sprints medal.
“We now have a lot of work,” Zimmer said, “to get ready for the Sprints.”
The results:
The Doc Lusins Trophy/Conlan Cup
Columbia-Boston U.-Syracuse
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, N.Y.
Varsity Eights
1. Columbia, 5:42.3
2. Syracuse, 5:45.7
3. Boston U., 5:56.9
Columbia wins the Doc Lusins Trophy vs. B.U.
Syracuse wins the Conlan Cup vs. B.U.
Second Varsity Eights
1. Syracuse, 5:55.5
2. Boston U., 5:58.9
3. Columbia, 6:27.5*
*equipment breakage
Freshman Eights
1. Syracuse, 5:54.6
2. Columbia, 6:03.1
3. Boston U., 6:06.3
Second Freshman Eights
1. Syracuse, 6:13.3
2. Boston U., 6:27.0
