BOSTON, Mass. -- The Columbia men's lightweight rowers were able to overcome the frigid temperatures and strong headwinds that beset MIT's Charles River course Saturday, but they never could overcome the Big Red of Cornell, which defeated the Lions in the varsity eights race to retain the Geiger Cup, and in two other races as well.
The varsity eights race matched the nation's top two lightweights, No. 1 Cornell and No. 2 Columbia, plus No. 5 MIT.
"Cornell was really good," head coach
Nich Lee Parker said. "We raced hard, but we have to be more competitive if we hope to do well at Sprints."
Despite the fierce headwind, Columbia got off the starting line okay, but quickly encountered disturbances that threw its rhythm off. Unfortunately, Parker said, "We never really got it back."
"We need better execution to reach our potential," he continued, "but we didn't get that today.
The second varsity, ranked third in the nation, had what Parker termed "a good performance". Unfortunately, he noted, "Cornell had a great middle 1000, and we never regained our rhythm."
The third varsity fulfilled its No. 6 ranking, but could not overtake the top-ranked Big Red.
"Today saw a huge leap in the third varsity's performance," the coach said. "They charged out hard."
Columbia travels to Princeton next Saturday to meet the third-ranked Tigers, Delaware and Mercyhurst. The Lions will then look to the Eastern Sprints May 17 in Worcester, Mass., and the IRA National Championship May 31 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J. "We continue to focus on the Sprints and the IRA," Parker said.
The results:
The Geiger Cup(Columbia, MIT, Cornell)Saturday, April 25, 2015Charles River, Boston, Mass.Varsity Eights1. Cornell, 6:18
2. COLUMBIA, 6:21
3. MIT, 6:28
Second Varsity Eights1. Cornell, 6:33
2. COLUMBIA, 6:40
3. MIT, 6:45
Third Varsity Eights1. Cornell, 6:31.05
2. COLUMBIA, 6:39.20
3. MIT, 7:04.07
Today's Columbia Boatings:Varsity Eight in the Michael ZimmerYih-Jen Ku, cox;
Griffin Whitlock, stroke;
David Mottola, 7;
Fredrik Aasaaren, 6; Jacob Buczek, 5;
Ben Landis, 4;
Matt Bellesheim, 3;
Harrison Vincent, 2;
John Maloney, bow
Second Varsity Eight in the 1964 Sprints ChampionsDan Hong, cox;
Jeffrey Hou, stroke;
Conor Murphy, 7;
Colin Ross, 6;
Ben Blair, 5;
Andrew Bartholomew, 4;
Bryan Ptucha, 3;
Oliver Ingram, 2;
Jeff Monahan, bow
Third Varsity Eight in the William C. Carlisle IIIJessica Jocson, cox;
Noah Rivkin, stroke;
Brian McGrattan, 7;
Trevor Docter, 6;
Travis Simon, 5;
Oliver Grueterich 4;
Daniel Puttmann, 3;
Colm Smith, 2;
Justin Bae, bow
