By Andrew Bonifant
Coming off a rare loss and a long road trip, the women’s rowing team could have been expected to struggle.
Instead, the team responded with its most emphatic victory of the season at the Woodbury Cup Sunday.
The Huskies remained hot with a commanding performance in Orchard Beach, N.Y. Sunday, defeating host Columbia by winning all four races they competed in. The women’s Varsity 8 (6:57.4 to 7:07.4), second Varsity 8 (7:05.4 to 7:13.6), Varsity 4 (7:55.8 to 8:02.6) and Novice 4 (8:19.3 to 8:21.3) all placed first to give the team a sweep.
Coach Joe Wilhelm said he was pleased with his team’s effort at the regatta.
“It was a good teamwide win,” he said. “We hadn’t had a regatta where we had all boats win, so that was nice. It gives our team confidence heading into the Eastern Sprints.”
The victory marked another chapter in what has been a successful season for the Varsity 8 boat, whose only two losses have come to teams ranked in the top 20 in the country, and an encouraging one in the development of the other varsity and novice boats. The Varsity 8 boat boasts a 10-2 record.
“They’ve been, consistently, the top boat for us,” Wilhelm said. “Our other crews have shown improvement. They’re very young, and we went in knowing it would take a while for them to come together.”
Wilhelm has a history with Columbia. He started the women’s crew program in 1983, coached it for its first two years and oversaw its early operation.
Despite his history in New York, Wilhelm said his mind was on the race, rather than his past at Columbia.
“When we get this far into the season, neither coaches nor athletes can look at any race as personal,” he said. “It’s a total team effort. It was nice to see old friends after the race, but before, I hadn’t thought of it.”
The victory was a return to form for Northeastern, which is 10-2 and currently ranked fifth in the EARWC Coaches’ Poll after a loss to Radcliffe in the Beanpot the day before.
Though Wilhelm wasn’t discouraged by the defeat, he said he had been unsure as to how the team would respond to having races on back-to-back days with a bus ride to New York in between.
“The hard part was that we raced Saturday morning, then had to drive to New York and race on their home course when they did not race and were rested,” he said. “We said that what we needed to worry about was our boat in our lane, and not what the other crew was doing.”
Next up for Northeastern are the Eastern Sprints May 18. The four teams in the final will be determined after preliminary racing before the race.
Wilhelm said as long as the team keeps its focus, a trip to the final is possible.
“We need to finish stronger and have more complete races,” he said. “The Radcliffe race showed our base boat speed is comparable, but there are enough good schools that if you take anything for granted, you’ll find yourself out of the final. The last few years, we’ve been in the five, six and seven range. Our goal is to break out of that and send a boat to the final. The athletes we’re coaching are up to that challenge.”
