Prior to last weekend, the last 20 times Northeastern dropped into the water against Rutgers University, the Huskies have pulled the faster boat.
That trend wasn’t about to change Saturday in the Congram Cup on the Raritan River in New Jersey.
“I think we consistenly train a little harder,” Coach John Pojednic said. “I know they have the resources and talent, but we always seemed to be in better shape and have a better crew program than them.”
Heading into the weekend, Pojednic didn’t feel comfortable with his team’s week of practice.
“We trained really hard the week before and I think overextended ourselves a bit,” he said. “We also did something which we don’t often do: we got on the bus Saturday morning, spent a couple of hours in a diner, and hit the water. Usually, we’d get there the day before, we didn’t really set them up to perform well but they raced hard.”
Rutger’s 2.9 second deficit at the end of the varsity race (5:50.6 to 5:53.5) was the closest the crew has come to beating NU since 1994. Northeastern’s freshman boat also easily paced by the Scarlet Knights, finishing in 6:19.6 compared to Rutger’s 6:24. However, NU’s second varsity boat was edged by their competitors (6:10.8 to 6:12.4).
Next week, NU faces No. 2 ranked Washington in the Windermere Cup on the Montlake Cut in Seattle.
“We’ve been talking about the trip out there for almost the whole year,” Pojednic said. “We know it’ll be a long five-hour flight, but the guys are excited to go. They’ve been looking forward to this for a long, long time.”
Northeastern, who will borrow a boat for the race, isn’t worried about the differences that might be presented on the water some 3,000 miles away.
“With the new boat, it might be weird for the first half of the first practice, but after that we’ll settle in,” Pojednic said. “It’s like changing hockey sticks.
“It’s been an awful spring as far as weather is concerned in the East,” he added. “There will be better water, less wind maybe. It all should work to our advantage, since we’ve been rowing in such harsh conditions.”
NU plans to arrive Thursday, when they’ll practice on the water before Friday’s scheduled scrimmage with the U.S. National Team.
“We’re just going to have fun with it,” Pojednic said. “We don’t want the guys to over-extend themselves, but I expect they’ll be right on their [U.S. National crew’s] heels. They are an Olympic boat, so I’m not expecting a win or anything.”
Pojednic sums up his hopes for the weekend:
“At this point we’ve got nothing to lose,” he said. “We’re just going to try and have a solid race, try and come faster off the line, and see if we can’t upset somebody.”
The varsity race begins at 11:35 a.m.
