By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s rowing team finished in third place in the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester on Sunday, the team’s first medal at the Eastern Sprints since 2005.
“I think when you consider that we finished third in the varsity eight, fourth in the second Varsity eight and sixth in the third Varsity eight in a conference comprised of 18 of the nation’s top teams, there is no question that we measured up very well and demonstrated that we are one of the four strongest teams in our conference,” coach John Pojednic said in an email to The News. “[Our conference] is an exceptionally deep conference for rowing or any sport for that matter.”
In the first varsity eight, Northeastern, Harvard University and Brown University got off to a quick start. Harvard pulled ahead and took first (5:56.721), Brown took second (6:01.925) and Northeastern finished just behind (6:03.746).
“So many people seem fixated on us versus Harvard,” Pojednic said. “To me, they are just another opponent that we want to get ahead of. It’s going to take some time for the pendulum to swing our way when it comes to consistently beating crews like Harvard, Brown, California, Washington, Princeton and Wisconsin. For decades, these programs have had a machine in place that isn’t going to stop just because we want to join the party. To get over the hump, we simply need to do what we have been doing for the past three years consistently over the next decade and we will begin to win big races against these programs.”
In the second varsity eight, the Huskies took third place in the second 500 meters of the race, but were overtaken by Harvard and finished in fourth (6:18.485).
The Huskies placed sixth in the third varsity eight (6:36.272). In the varsity four, Northeastern was 3.5 seconds out of medal contention as they finished in 6:57.560.
The Huskies will next attend the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships from May 31 to June 2 in Rancho Cordova, Calif. The Huskies have the third-ranked varsity eight team in the nation and Pojednic said he has high hopes for the championship.
“We hope to be one of the crews that makes the Grand Final and competes in the race for the National Championship,” said Pojednic.
The women’s rowing team also saw success last weekend, placing second in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship. The second-place finish marks the fifth consecutive year that the Huskies have finished in the top two at the tournament.
“We graduated eight seniors from last year’s squad, so we knew we were going to go through some growing pains,” coach Joe Wilhelm said. “Our expectations were that we might start slow, but that we would pick up momentum as we got into the regular season. Unfortunately we had some untimely injuries, and we never really found the speed necessary to win the CAAs and qualify for the NCAAs. I am encouraged that we came as close as we did, but disappointed that we fell just a little bit short.”
Seniors Amanda Brem, Katherine Halbig and Evelyn Justine Lowe all earned First Team All-Conference honors.
“You can’t replace seniors like Amanda, Kate and Justine,” Wilhelm said. “They are great athletes who contributed to our team speed with their work ethic, toughness and technical ability. All three were great leaders. The good thing for the future is that we are only graduating three seniors. While we can’t replace them, we have a good core of young talent ready to step up and make a positive impact on the team next year.”
The Huskies won the varsity four race by nine seconds (7:27.9). In the first varsity eight, they finished in second place two seconds out of first place (6:35.4.). In the second varsity eight, Northeastern finished in third (6:49.3), three seconds out of first. The women’s rowing team returns to action at the NCAA Championship in Indianapolis from May 31 to June 2.
