CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Harvard men's heavyweight rowing team retained the Robinson Cup for a second consecutive season as it defeated the Cornell men's heavyweight rowing team by just over 12 seconds in the first varsity eight race on the chilly Charles River on Saturday morning.
Harvard opened the race with a strong push and never looked back as the Crimson posted a time of 5:57.6, finishing 12.1 seconds ahead of the Big Red's time of 6:09.7.
In the second varsity race, the two boats were fairly even over the first 500 meters before Harvard began took a six-seat advantage around the midway point of the course. The Crimson eventually created an open-water lead around the 1250-meter mark and continued to increase its lead before crossing the finish line 6.5 seconds before Cornell.
Similar to the second varsity, the third varsity race also opened neck-and-neck before the Crimson leaped out to an open-water lead past the halfway point before winning by 10.7 seconds.
Cornell's fourth varsity eight traded leads with Harvard in the opening 500 meters before retaking the lead and eventually creating an open-water lead just past the 1000-meter mark. The Big Red held onto its lead for the remaining 1000 meters, finishing 7.4 seconds ahead of the Crimson for its lone win of the day.
RESULTS
1V8
Harvard: 5:57.6
Cornell: 6:09.7
2V8
Harvard: 6:02.7
Cornell: 6:09.2
3V8
Harvard: 6:08.6
Cornell: 6:19.3
4V8
Cornell: 6:17.8
Harvard: 6:25.2
BOATINGS
1V8: Topher Luzarraga (coxswain),
Ben Aquilina-Piscitello (stroke),
Walid Ghamra,
Jake Lawson,
Finn Lynch,
Tucker Poff,
Ethan Waxman,
Thomas Kunkler,
Kyle Howe (bow).
2V8: J. Maxwell Zirkman (coxswain),
Alex Bloom (stroke),
Paul Stone,
Tony Klar,
Geoffrey Miller,
Charles Bierden,
Marko Djuranovic,
Abe Litvak,
Christiaan Eikeboom (bow).
3V8: Abbey Charlamb (coxswain),
Zachary Vorrath (stroke),
Jackson Stone,
Harrison Sremac,
Robert Walker,
Henry Joyner,
Matteo Banducci,
Evan McGowan,
Mark Krneta (bow).
4V8: Sofie Cole (coxswain),
Joe Welling (stroke),
Constantino Oberto Calleri,
Nicholas Hebard,
Iason Diogenous,
Bennett Dodge,
Johnnie Moriarty,
Luke Brust,
Shane Gazdus (bow).
A LOOK UPSTREAM
Cornell will return to the water in two weeks when it travels up Interstate 81 to Syracuse, N.Y., to face Central New York rival Syracuse and the United States Naval Academy for the Goes Trophy.
Last season, Syracuse claimed the Goes Trophy after placing first in the top varsity eight. Cornell finished second in the race, concluding the course 10 seconds behind the Orange. The Big Red posted a victory in the varsity four, edging Navy by 2.1 seconds.
