Heavyweights take home Maxwell Stevenson Cup, women fall to Northeastern

The heavyweight rowing team returned to form this weekend, defeating Navy to take the Maxwell Stevenson Cup. The women’s team, however, was unable to capture the Woodbury Cup from Northeastern, placing fourth in the Beanpot.

The No. 10 heavyweights (11-2) stormed back from a difficult loss to Boston University and Syracuse last weekend to take the Maxwell Stevenson Cup for the second year in a row. The Lions triumphed over the No. 15 Midshipmen and the tough conditions in the varsity eight racing, finishing in 5:55.1, over seven seconds ahead of Navy, who came in at 6:02.8.

The Light Blue was also victorious in the second varsity race, defeating both of Navy’s boats. Columbia finished in 6:02.1—3.6 seconds ahead of the Midshipmen’s second varsity and 23.5 seconds ahead of their third varsity.

Columbia’s freshman eight boat finished second in 6:24.8, behind Navy’s first freshman boat, which came in at 6:06.9, but ahead of Navy’s second freshman boat, which finished at 6:36.5.

This race concluded the Lions’ Cup portion of their schedule, as they will head to the Eastern Sprints next Sunday to compete for the Ivy title and a spot in the IRA National Championships.

The women (8-8) fell to Northeastern at the Woodbury Cup this weekend, dropping their second race in a row. The Woodbury Cup race was part of the Beanpot, so while the Lions were only competing against the Huskies for the Cup, they were also racing against No. 16 Radcliffe, Boston University, Boston College, and MIT.

Radcliffe, the women’s crew team that represents Harvard, took first in the varsity eight race with a time of 7:00.6. Northeastern followed in 7:12.1, just .3 seconds ahead of the Terriers, but almost 20 seconds ahead of the Light Blue, who came in at 7:30.4. The Eagles and the Engineers finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Though Columbia fell in the second varsity race also—finishing in third at 7:30.2, behind Radcliffe and Boston University—the freshman eight boat took first place. The Lions finished in a time of 7:40.5, defeating Radcliffe by over four seconds and triumphing over the Terriers, the Huskies, and the Eagles by much greater margins.

The Light Blue finished last in both the varsity four race and the second novice four race.
This weekend also marked the end of the Cup portion of the season for the women, who will compete at the Eastern Sprints on May 17.