The heavyweight and women’s rowing teams will each compete in one final race before vying for the Ivy championship at the Eastern Sprints.
The heavyweights are coming off their first loss of the season to Boston University and Syracuse. This loss was unexpected, since the squad had entered the race as the seventh-best team in the country. After being defeated by the lower-ranked Terriers and the Orange, the Lions have dropped to 10th in the coaches’ poll.
Columbia will look to climb in the standings this weekend when it takes on Navy for the Maxwell Stevenson Cup. The Midshipmen enter this regatta as the No. 15 team in the nation.
Last season, Columbia defeated Navy in the varsity eight race, taking the Maxwell Stevenson Cup for the first time in 45 years. The Lions finished in 6:02.2 and the Midshipmen in 6:05.1. The first varsity race was the only contest held that day, with sub-varsity events being held two weeks later. Navy took both the second varsity and the freshman eight race.
The Maxwell Stevenson Cup will take place on Sunday in Princeton, N.J.
The women’s team is coming off a disappointing—though not entirely unexpected—race as well. The Lions fell to No. 10 Brown and Cornell at the Dunn Bowl last weekend. The Bears took the cup, finishing first in the varsity eight race with a time of 7:05.66. Cornell came in second at 7:23.0, and the Light Blue placed third with a time of 7:32.76.
Columbia will try to bounce back this weekend when they take on Northeastern for the Woodbury Cup.
Last season the Huskies took the cup by finishing first in the varsity eight race with a time of 6:57.4. The Lions crossed the finish line 10 seconds later.
Northeastern swept all the other races as well, taking the second varsity, varsity four, and novice four contests.
The regatta is scheduled to begin at 9:36 a.m. on Saturday in Boston, Mass.
