By Bradley Rosenberg
The NU Varsity women’s crew team came in third again Saturday, with Texas taking first and Boston University bagging second, but Coach Joe Wilhelm is not all that disappointed.
“Varsity rode particularly aggressive,” he says. “I thought we did a really nice job.”
Still, Wilhelm thinks there is room for improvement.
“We did what we wanted to do there [at the beginning of the race], but we just couldn’t hold that speed.”
Wilhelm said that the poor condition of the water was partly responsible for the crew’s lack of staying power.
“I think we let the weather get the better of us,” Wilhelm said. “If you get tentative in rough conditions in any part of the race, it’ll cost you.”
Unfortunately, the cost of this race was the Women’s Council Cup.
Texas walked away with the cup with a time of 6:31.5. BU came in right behind them with a time of 6:31.7, while NU showed up a little later at 6:36.9.
The junior varsity fared better, placing second by beating BU with a time of 6:54.0.
“Junior Varsity stayed aggressive in rough water,” Wilhelm said. “I think they do a good job.”
NU’s best placing was brought in by the crew’s novice team. With a time of 6:52.6, the novice Huskies were able beat both Texas and BU and secure a first- place finish.
“This novice crew will be a great addition to the varsity in the coming years,” Wilhelm said.
Cassandra Brown, a senior in the varsity boat, has high hopes for the novice ladies as well.
“I think we’re going to see a lot out of these girls,” she said. “They’re a really powerful bunch of girls, and I think that their win is awesome.”
Brown also has hopes that the Varsity will find their form in the coming weeks.
“It may look like we’re behind,” the Varsity bow rower said, “but we’re all on pace. [The Council Cup race] was a better race than we’ve had, because we were much more aggressive. It was just a really bad day on the Charles with the rain and … the really choppy water.”
While Brown does believe that the team has “a lot of work to be done.” Still, she thinks that what the team did Saturday was “a step in the right direction.”
Wilhelm agreed.
“These races were dog fights,” he says. “It was just in the last part of the 500 that our crew wasn’t able to keep up. We’re showing some speed and we’re showing some aggression. They’re making progress, for sure.”
“One of the things I have to give this crew credit for is their positive attitude,” Wilhelm said. “We’ve had a tough season. Still, they always have a positive attitude. It needs to be positive for us to be successful. They’re rising to that challenge, and that’s what I ask for.”
As for next week, when the team faces defending national champ Brown and a high-ranking team Yale, Wilhelm believes that the Huskies will have yet another challenge for them to rise to.
“This will be a really good challenge for us,” he said. “We look at this as an opportunity; we want to be tested.”
Saturday’s race will take place on the Housatonic River in Mass. The novice race begins at 12:30 p.m., the junior varsity race begins at 12:45, and the varsity race begins at 1:00.
