By Matt Foster

Spring is in the air and, as the flowers in Krentzman Quad start to bloom, a commonly overlooked athletic team is starting to garner some attention on campus. Loaded with a good mix of seniors and young talent, the men’s crew team began their season with some lofty expectations.

After a third place finish in the Copley Cup, held in San Diego, Calif., on April 2-3, the male rowers started their highly-anticipated regular season off on the right oar, winning their fifth consecutive Arlett Cup over Boston University Saturday on the 2,000-meter course of the Charles River.

The varsity boat broke the previous record of 5:47.7, set by the 1996 NU squad, with a time of 5:43.7. Despite closing to within three seats of NU in the final 500-meters, the Terriers couldn’t pull ahead of the senior-rich Husky boat and finished half a length back with a time of 5:45.7.

All the Northeastern boats were victorious Saturday, with the 2d varsity team defeating the Terriers’ 2d varsity by just under 10 seconds while the freshman boat barely edged out their BU counterparts by .02 seconds.

Although the team has been one of the nation’s top programs in the past, this season –