By By Kirby Morrison, News Correspondent

Northeastern crew had a busy schedule the past few weekends as the men’s team traveled to Providence April 18 for the Dreissigacker Cup and to Philadelphia April 26 for the Burk Cup. The women’s team traveled to Philadelphia April 18 for the inaugural Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship and was back home on the Charles River April 25 for the Charles River Challenge. Both squads were on the Charles River last weekend for the men’s Smith Cup and the women’s Beanpot.’
On April 18 the women won the inaugural CAA Championship by besting Buffalo, Delaware, Drexel, George Mason, and Old Dominion. Northeastern won the varsity and second varsity race on the Schuylkill River course with times of 6:43.18 and 6:52.1 respectively. The University of Buffalo finished second overall with second place finishes in the varsity and second varsity races as well as a win in the varsity four race.
‘Winning the first CAA Championship was an accomplishment that our athletes should feel good about,’ said women’s coach Joe Wilhelm.
That same weekend, the men narrowly lost to Brown as the Brown Bears won their fourth straight Dreissigacker Cup, completing the Seekonk River course with a time of 5:30.4 to Northeastern’s time of 5:32.7.
On April 25, the women finished second to Virginia in the morning race of the Charles River Challenge while beating out Tennessee in the afternoon race. No crew had an answer for Virginia in the morning race as the Cavaliers won the varsity, second varsity, varsity four, and novice races for a clean sweep. The afternoon race fared better for Northeastern as they won the varsity race with a time of 7:27.9 and won the varsity four race with a time of 8:59.9. The next day the men continued Northeastern’s dominance on the Schuylkill River as they beat out the University of Pennsylvania with a time of 5:39.4 to win their eighth straight Burk Cup.’
This past weekend both the men and women were out on the Charles River as the men faced Harvard in the Smith Cup and the women faced Radcliffe, Boston University, Columbia, Boston College, and MIT in the Beanpot. The Crimson got off to a quick start as they edged out Northeastern with a time of 6:10.7 to the Huskies’ time of 6:21.2, marking their 12th straight Smith Cup victory. In the Beanpot, the women finished second to Radcliffe for the second year in a row as Radcliffe finished the course in 7:00.6. Northeastern and Boston University fought hard for second place as the Huskies finished with a time of 7:12.1 to the Terriers’ 7:12.4.
‘The Varsity did a great job holding off a hard charging BU crew,’ Wilhelm said about the tight finish between Northeastern and BU. ‘This will be a rematch to watch at the Eastern Sprints.”
On Sunday the men will compete in the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester. The University of Wisconsin won the men’s Eastern Sprints last year, and Northeastern looks to win the event for the first time since back to back wins in 1972 and 1973. The women will row in the Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges Championship (Eastern Sprints) on May 17 in Camden, N.J., on the Cooper River.