George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Boston U., Navy, MIT (women)
Women's Rowing Has Strong Showing at Playfair Cup
4/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Crew
April 7, 2003
BOSTON, MA - The GW women's rowing squads traveled to Boston, MA, to take on Boston University and the Naval Academy in their annual meeting for the Playfair Cup on the Charles River. Also that afternoon, the Colonials took on MIT. Frigid weather with snow and icy rain forced the races to move to a more sheltered portion of the Charles.
The morning races featured GW, Boston University and Navy. GW Novice coach Helen Betancourt's first Novice eight stole the show with an aggressive race right from the start. Their firey performance earned them the victory with a solid, three-second margin ahead the crew from BU, and huge victories over Georgetown and Navy. GW head coach Steve Peterson commented, "they really regrouped from their performance last weekend and rowed the way they are capable of. They are a fun crew to watch race."
The GW varsity eight also put forth an impressive performance against No. 16 Boston University and Navy. Off the start, it was all BU and GW, as the midshipmen from the Naval Academy quickly found the pace too hot. However, BU was able to surge past the Colonials when it came to the sprint, and finished three seconds ahead of GW. Navy finished 21 seconds behind GW.
Peterson commented, "The varsity rowed the way they needed to in order to win. We were just out-sprinted. Between our performance last week and this week, it really shows we can row with the top programs in the country. However, this weekend's racing did reveal that we still need to improve some of the more technical aspects of our race strategy. If we can get faster off the starting line, and sprint better, who knows how far this crew can go."
In the afternoon session, thunderstorms stopped the racing after only two races had been completed. Again the novices proved up to the task as they dominated both the Georgetown and MIT crews right from the start. Due to the inclement weather, the varsity crews did not get to race against MIT or Georgetown.
Weather: breezy for all races, 32 degrees, intermittent sleet and snow.
Final Results:
Playfair Cup
Varsity 8:
Boston University 4:50.6
George Washington 4:53.7
Navy 5:14.6
Second Varsity 8:
Boston University 5:05
Navy 5:15
George Washington 5:26
Novice 8:
George Washington 4:57.2
Boston University 5:00.2
Georgetown 5:13.0
Navy 5:16.0
Second Novice 8:
Georgetown 5:15.4
Boston University 5:24.7
George Washington 5:46.7
Afternoon racing:
Novice 8:
George Washington 5:08.67
Georgetown 5:18.57
MIT 5:19.76
Second Novice 8:
George Washington 5:41.92
Georgetown 5:49.30
The Colonials will be at home Saturday, April 12, for the 16th Annual GW Invitational Crew Classic. Crews from Tennessee, Kansas State, Columbia, Navy, Georgetown and Saint Joseph's will come to the Potomac River to race for one of the coveted GW Invitational trophies. Racing begins at 9:00 a.m. and concludes at 4:00 p.m. with the varsity eights. The best viewing is from Washington Harbour at 3000 K Street, NW. Admission is free.
For more information about race times, or directions, contact the GW Rowing office at (202) 994-8603, or via e-mail at either gwcrew@gwu.edu or crewalum@gwu.edu.
For complete results visit the row2k website at: http://row2k.com