First year the program exists/ 4 guys in it/ average 137lb/ won the quad in the state of Virginia/ no chance of winning this poll because of lack of biased support - I'm throwing my hands up and dancing around the room for these kids.
I think the Grand Valley WV8+ deserves much more credit and recognition than what I've seen while reading these posts. As a former female rower coming out of a club program, I understand how difficult it can be sometimes to compete against scholarship programs. Not only is this a DII Club Team with no scholarships, but these girls won their event by NINE SECONDS. Winning this grand final - the premier women's event - helped the GV women to clinch the team trophy. NOT TO MENTION, with the record flooding in Grand Rapids, MI this spring, the team spent multiple weeks out of their boathouse. They finally made it back in only days before the regatta, and STILL managed to take gold. Again, by 9 seconds! ...That is not an easy task, and there is definitely something to be said for that. I had the privilege of competing against some of these girls, and they are without a doubt MY crew of the week.
Michigan, as a club team, faces the same same challenges that Grand Valley does regarding the level of competition they face. Nobody here is degrading their accomplishments or intentionally avoiding giving them recognition.
The Delaware lightweight men's varsity and freshman won gold at Dad Vail as well. The lightweight 1V was only 4.5 seconds behind the Drexel heavies in the Knecht Cup grand final. Delaware is also a club team with a consistent history of winning at Dad Vail. Drexel Cmax rank: 25, Delaware 8.
Head to head, races carry far more weight. I'm sure you would agree that comparing times of different races is like apples and oranges. See Elvis' Drexel vs MSU comment below. Either way, all the crews performed admirably. It's great to see support for all the athletes who dedicate so much to the sport.
First off, Drexel is ranked 19th in the Hwt poll and UDel is 8th in the Lwt poll; so there is no way to compare their rankings. Also the Cmax is the biggest scam going. Michigan State is ranked ahead of Drexel, and Drexel just beat MSU head to head this past weekend. I can also make the same comparison for northeastern/brown and Stanford/Cal. NU beat brown and is ranked behind them; same goes for Stanford and Cal. I'm sure I could find a few more of these instances if I searched more. As I said, the Cmax rankings are a scam and I doubt any level headed coach would ever take them in to account.
I agree about the illegitimacy of CMAX, and even if it was an accurate ranking system, that's not what this poll is for. As for the "club team with a consistent history of winning at" Vails, take a look at Michigan...
Agreed, but the nominations aren't Michigan Men versus Drexel Men, it's specifically the 2V that *did* beat Drexel head - to - head at Vails, followed by their win at ECACs.
Never said they didn't, but the argument is that what the 2V did this weekend at *two* separate championships trumps what Drexel's two or three boats did at Vails. Drexel as a whole had a great weekend - Michigan's 2V just had a better one.
And my argument is that what the Drexel V8 and F8 did trumps what the Michigan 2V did... Had Drexel gone to ECAC i have no reason to believe their V8 and F8 wouldn't have beaten Michigan...again!
Maybe Drexel would have won again at ECAC, but you don't know that. Their 1V is only 1-1 against Michigan, and maybe Michigan would have won again on neutral water. We don't know, but we do know that Michigan's 2V DID win at both championships. That's impressive
That Michigan 2V nomination could just as easily be a full team Michigan Men nomination, like Drexel's, in which case your argument is invalid. It's not really fair to compare full team results to one boat.
A Freshman 8 over a 2V? Questionable. They're traditionally worth the same amount of points for team points trophies, and a fast 2V speaks more to the depth and overall speed of a program than a fast 1F does.
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