This weekend in the Northeast brought the first true spring day as crews got to a clearer picture of team boat speed. The next few weeks will provide opportunities for teams to move up the ranks. Let’s get right to this past weekend’s action!

Princeton #4-tie, Yale #6, Iowa #11

This was a weekend where two of the top Ivy League programs with a long history of fast crews were joined by Iowa, who arrived as a program last season, making their first NCAA Championships since 2001.

In the V8 race, right from the first stroke, it was game on. All three teams fiercely wanted the lead, and it was Iowa who was able to impose their will. The Hawkeyes continued to set the pace, having nearly a length lead over Yale and Princeton in the middle of the race. Entering the third 500, Princeton made a push into Iowa’s lead, while starting to push away from Yale. The Tigers were testing the Hawkeye’s mental fortitude, and Iowa answered every time, winning by nearly three seconds over Princeton, and six over Yale.

In the 2V8 race, it was great side-by-side racing as Yale held off Iowa at the line, winning by 0.6 seconds and kept Princeton back by open water. Yale, who took the V4 comfortably over Princeton, who finished second with Iowa in third. Look for Iowa to jump up in the polls, as Yale and Princeton will continue to be in the mix of top crews.

Washington racing in Las Vegas

Washington #1, Texas #3, Michigan #10

Racing at one of the newest rowing venues in the country, Washington, Texas and Michigan met in Las Vegas where the conditions were great for racing. For the Huskies, it was a clean sweep over the toughest competition they have seen so far, and they passed the test winning the V8 by six seconds, while taking the 2V8 by a length. The V4 was the tightest race of the day, with the Huskies winning by two seconds.

For Texas, this was a test to see where they measure up against the best squad in the country. In both eights, Texas finished six seconds off the pace, taking second in the V8 and third in the 2V8. The Longhorns' V4 had the tightest margin to UW in the day, which shows that Texas has really grown the depth of their program and are getting closer to the speed they want to achieve.

Michigan seemed to have a better day of racing than a school that ranked 10. In the V8, Michigan finished two seconds from Texas, while beating Texas in the 2V8 by two seconds. Keep an eye on all three of these schools as they all know how to get faster toward the end of the season.

Clemson Invite

Ohio at the Clemson invite

Ohio St #4-tie, UVA #9, Wisconsin #12, USC #13, Washington St #15, Indiana #17, Syracuse #18, Oklahoma #20 and other D1 schools

The racing got off to a fast start with the schedule pushed up a day to Friday evening as the Clemson invite was racing the weather. With the number of schools that are ranked in the top 20 and several others knocking on the door to get in, these are critical races for making the NCAA’s. The Clemson Invite consider all these races three different races.

However, the last day of racing is set up so that the fastest crews from the first two rounds are in the same flight. The same goes for the next seven and final seven. So, because that last round of racing gives a quick glimpse on how the teams did before digging into the first two rounds of racing, we will be talking mostly about the last day of racing and leave it up to you to look up the first two rounds.

Ohio State had a very dominant weekend, winning eight of the nine NCAA events, and every non-NCAA race they raced. The Buckeyes are working their way back into the conversation of one of the contenders for an NCAA title.

Over the two-day event, it looked to be a rematch of the Ohio State vs UVA dual race from two weeks before. On the final round, Ohio State won the V8 by two seconds over USC, and five seconds over UVA. In the 2V8, UVA was able to steal the win from Ohio State with a three second victory.

In the V4 race, Ohio State took the top spot with a five-second win over Indiana, and by eight seconds over UVA. Look for Ohio State to continue to be fast, while UVA will be searching for the speed they had in the V8 two weeks ago, losing to the Buckeyes by a half a deck.

The squad that had the best results compared to their ranking before the regatta was USC. Their V8 had a great last race, finishing second to Ohio State while beating out UVA and Wisconsin, who were ranked ahead of them. In the 2V8, USC took third, narrowly missing second to Ohio State by two feet, but outpacing Wisconsin by six and a half seconds. USC's one Achilles heel is their V4, as they ended up in the C Level for the last day of racing.

Wisconsin and Indiana seemed to be doing battle every time one of the coxswains looked across the lanes. In the V8, the Badgers finished fourth, almost three seconds ahead of fifth place Hoosiers. The 2V8 was even tighter with Wisconsin beating Indiana for fourth place by two seconds, while Indiana had a strong showing in the V4 finishing second. Wisconsin finished fifth. Both of these teams have put themselves in a good spot to make the NCAA’s, but there is still work to be done.

Washington State was the last school to have their V8 and 2V8 in the top flight on the final day, with the V8 finishing sixth and the 2V seventh. The V4 raced in the B Final and had a good race, finishing second to Louisville. Looking at the results for Syracuse, they had several good races, but with the speed of this event, all their crews were in the B finals. The V8 was ninth, and the 2V8 and the V4 eleventh.

Oklahoma had their struggles in the V8, racing in the C final, while their 2V8 and V4 raced in the A final, finishing sixth and fourth respectfully. One school that was outside the top 20 and making a case to be ranked is Duke. The Blue Devils had their V8 in the A final and finished seventh. Their V4 finishing sixth overall. In other quick notes, Oregon States V8 continued to perform well, finishing eighth. Tulsa’s V8 finished ninth. Good luck to all the pollsters this week sorting out these crews.

Lake Natoma Invitational

California had a strong weekend at the Lake Natoma Invitational

Cal #2, Stanford #7, Brown #8 and other D1 schools

Cal had a great weekend, sweeping all the NCAA events over Gonzaga, Notre Dame, and Sac State in one session. In the other session, Cal took on Brown, Gonzaga, and San Diego, winning all three events by open water. This sets up for a showdown at the Redwood Shores between Cal and Washington this weekend, which should be epic, and the first of three match ups between these two schools.

Stanford also had a solid weekend by sweeping Notre Dame, Sac State, and Alabama in one session - winning by ten to twelve seconds in all the events. Stanford saw Brown, Alabama and San Diego in the other session. The Cardinals won roughly by seven seconds in the V8 and 2V8, before Brown took the V4 by eight seconds.

The tightest margin between two V8 crews came between Gonzaga and Notre Dame, which the Zags took by one second. The crews got back together for one session, with Cal, Stanford, Brown, and Notre Dame racing in the third session together. Cal once again dominated the event, taking all three races while Brown’s 2V8 nearly picked off Stanford with a four-seat margin.

Knecht Cup

Penn racing at the Knecht Cup

The Knecht Cup, held on Mercer Lake, provides schools the opportunity to double up their athletes in different events to gain valuable racing experience. In the women’s V8 event, Penn took the top spot by nearly a seven second margin over runner-up Boston College. Three lightweight crews made the open weight Grand Finals, including BU, Wisco, Harvard-Radcliffe, who we cover more below.

In the 2V8, Boston College and Penn switched spots in a great race, as BC won by literally a bow ball with Miami taking third. In the V4 event, once again it was Penn and Boston College going one-two, with the Quakers winning by 1.6 seconds.

Kerr Cup

The Kerr Cup raced in Philadelphia provided some good racing on a beautiful day. University of Rhode Island took the top spot in the V8 winning over Drexel by eight seconds, with Fordham taking third just ahead of Marist. The 2V8 was also won by URI over Drexel in a five-second Margin, with Fordham and Lehigh for third and fourth. The V4 event was won by hometown crew Drexel, with Lafayette second and Fairfield third.

This Week’s Races To Watch
Cal, Washington @ Redwood Shores, CA
Harvard, Northeastern, Yale @ Derby, CT
Princeton, UVA @ Charlottesville
Duke, Michigan St, Notre Dame, Ohio St @ Columbus, OH

Division 2

Central Oklahoma at last year's NCAAs

The Bronchos Run Wild
Central Oklahoma #1, Western Washington #5, Seattle Pacific #7

This week’s racing in the D2 level saw only half of the top-eight teams competing, and three of them met in Seattle for the Falcon Regatta. Central Oklahoma made the trek to the Pacific Northwest and lived up to their ranking in D2 by winning the V8 by 12 seconds over Seattle Pacific, who placed second in an upset over Western Washington.

The V4 event turned out to be a two-boat race between Central Oklahoma and Western Washington, with the Bronchos taking the win by a second. In the open four race, it was just as tight and had the same result, as Central Oklahoma swept the regatta.

UCSD #4 (D2), LMU (D1), SDSU (D1)

Racing at the famed Marina del Rey, SDSU took the V8 by three-quarters of a length over LMU in good racing conditions, with UCSD a distant third. SDSU also took the 2V8 and the V4 in comfortable fashion.

Next week's races to watch
FIT #2, Barry #3, Mercyhurst #8 @ SIRA Regatta-Oak Ridge TN

Division 3

Bates racing in Boston this spring

Bobcats Keep It Rolling
Bates #1, Wesleyan #2, Wellesley #6, Tufts #11

The best matchups in D3 over the weekend were held on the Malden River where four crews raced two boat races in heats and finals. Bates and Wesleyan won their heats in the V8, 2V8 and 3V8 over Wellesley and Tufts respectfully. In the second session, it was #1 vs. #2 along with #6 vs. #11. Bates won the V8 by nine seconds over Wesleyan, while winning the 2V8 in a bigger margin.

On the other half, Tufts came within one length of Wellesley in the V8, while Wellesley took the 2V8 comfortably.

Williams #3, WPI #10, Simmons, Conn College, University of Rochester

Playing host on Lake Quinsigamond, WPI had a strong race against Williams, finishing one-length off Williams, winners of the V8. Simmons led Rochester by a little more than a length for third. Those two crews did race the next day, where Rochester got revenge by beating Simmons by a deck. Williams was strong in the 2V8 winning by 14 seconds over WPI, Simmons, and Conn College.

Hamilton #4, RIT #9, William Smith #12

All three crews put on a good show as the V8 and 2V8 races were fairly tight. Hamilton was able to win both the V8 and 2V8 by three-quarters of a length in both races. RIT was the runner up while beating William Smith by a touch of open water. However, in the 2V8 it was William Smith who took second to Hamilton, with RIT just a few seats off William Smith.

Ithaca #5, Smith #14, Skidmore, St Lawrence

On the Cayuga Inlet, Ithaca won the four-boat (heats/finals) format by beating Smith in the V8 by an 18 second margin. The 2V8 event was a much closer race as Ithaca won by one length over Smith.

Next Week's Races to Watch
Bates #1 at BC with Dartmouth and URI
Wesleyan #2 at Williams #3
Northwest Conference-PLU #7, Puget Sound #8 Lewis & Clark

Lightweight Women

BU lighweight women continue their strong season at the Knecht Cup

BU enjoys success at Knecht Cup

The Knecht Cup provides a unique opportunity for coaches to race their athletes twice and in different class boats. In the Lightweight V8, BU #3-tie, won in a thrilling race over the Georgetown #3-tie by two seconds. Princeton #2 took third just one second back, and Wisconsin was another one second back in fourth. These four schools will be tight all year as Harvard-Radcliffe #6 and MIT #7, finished fifth and sixth respectfully, and will be looking to get on par in the weeks to come.

In the open weight eight, three light schools qualified for the Grand Finals. While Penn cruised to an open water victory, the rest of the field were overlapping at the flag. BU took third with Wisco one-seat behind. Harvard-Radcliffe, putting together a better piece, took fifth and was just two-seconds off of the Badgers.

Next Week's Races to Watch
Princeton #2 vs Georgetown #3-tie at Princeton, NJ
Boston University #3, Harvard-Radcliffe #6, MIT #7 at Boston, MA

Most Recent Polls:

CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll - presented by Pocock Racing Shells

USRowing Collegiate Poll