ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's rowing team closes out its regular season home schedule Saturday morning on Cayuga Inlet, welcoming No. 9 Brown to Ithaca for the Dunn Bowl.

Racing begins at 8:30 a.m. with the 1V8+ and three additional races will be held in 20-minute increments. There will be no live stream available.

Last weekend, the Big Red swept Rhode Island and took five of six races against Delaware in a home double dual, winning 10 of 11 head-to-head races in strong tail wind conditions. The men's heavyweight program's Goes Trophy races gave the women's team a preview of the course conditions — and the fast water had Cornell's 1V8+ chasing the program's home record of 6:25, set in 2013. The Big Red finished two seconds off the record.

"It was great to see them looking for that challenge," said Steve Coppola, the Staley Head Coach of Cornell Women's Rowing. "Still, we were two seconds off that record. It's great to see us so close to that standard."

Cornell's 1V8+ drew lane 3 in both the morning and afternoon sessions, with Rhode Island and Delaware each taking lane 2 and attempting to shoot out early to negate the staggered start at the first turn. The Big Red stayed composed under that pressure in both races, sticking to their race plan before pulling away after the 1,000-meter mark.

"In both of those races, Rhode Island and Delaware started to fold a little after the 1K," Coppola said. "Rhode Island made us work for it and it wasn't until after the 500-meter mark when our bows really shot out."

The 2V8+ followed a similar pattern, with opponents attempting the same early-burst strategy before Cornell's speed took over. The 3V8+ was particularly dominant, putting both Rhode Island races away early in what Coppola described as a preview of the Ivy League Women's Sprints field.

Brown enters the weekend having not raced since April 11-12, when the Bears posted strong results at the Princeton Invite and in dual competition against Columbia and Boston University in Overpeck, N.J. At the Princeton Invite, Brown's 1V8+ rallied from a deficit against No. 7 Virginia in the morning session, passing the Cavaliers in the latter half to win by four seconds. The 2V8+ went unbeaten across both days of racing. Against Columbia and Boston University on Sunday, Brown's 1V8+ edged Columbia by less than a second in a tight finish, while the 2V8+ won comfortably and the 3V8+ came from behind to walk through Columbia in the final 1,000 meters.

Brown will contest only the 1V8, 2V8, 1V4 and 3V8 on Saturday. Cornell's 2V4+ will compete in the 1V4+ event and the 4V8+ will race in the 3V8+.

"Brown has shown that they have some really good speed so far this season," Coppola said. "As we get our final tune up before Women's Sprints, we'll certainly be taking a page from last week's racing and be racing as the underdog just like our competition did last week."

The Dunn Bowl, determined by the head-to-head finish between Cornell and Brown in the 1V8+, has been contested annually since 1993 with the exception of 2020 and 2021, when no racing was held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brown has won all 33 contested editions of the trophy.

Following the conclusion of racing, Cornell will recognize its senior class in a ceremony at the boathouse.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Subject to change
8:30 a.m. — 1V8+
8:50 a.m. — 2V8+
9:10 a.m. — 1V4+
9:30 a.m. — 3V8+

LINEUPS
To be announced