Coming off a victory by its varsity eight, Duke hoped to carry its momentum into matchups with Columbia and Northeastern. The Lions and Huskies had other plans.
The Blue Devils made the trip to Leonia, N.J., with high expectations coming off a winning performance by the V8 at the San Diego Crew Classic March 29. Duke—trying to cement a place in the CRCA/U.S. Rowing Coaches poll—did not get the performance it was looking for, as three of the four boats finished last in their race.
“It was a hard trip for us,” head coach Robyn Horner said. “I think they should be a good matchup for us, and I don’t think we raced probably as well as we could have.”
Duke competed as a guest in the Woodbury Cup rivalry race between Columbia and Northeastern. The Cup was established in honor of a former Columbia captain, Melanie Woodbury. Before Saturday’s racing, the series was tied with each team winning the Cup five times. But with a sweep of the four races, the Huskies went home the victor.
The highlight of the day’s racing for the Blue Devils was a close second-place finish by the 2V8 with a time of 6:51.5, finishing just behind the Northeastern boat at 6:48.4. Horner has emphasized speed on the final stretch of racing during practice this year and looked to see Duke implement improved final sprints in the four races.
“I thought our 2V8 had a really good race,” Horner said. “In the 2V8, we actually sprinted really well, but I think we could have started our sprint a little earlier. [The race] could have been even closer and I think we could have maybe come out on top.”
Both varsity fours and the V8 took third behind first-place Northeastern and Columbia. The varsity eight finished with a time of 6:49.5 after a slow start. The first Varsity Four raced in 7:59.6, 26.5 seconds behind second-place Columbia. The 2V4 finished in 7:52.8, 6.2 seconds behind the Lions.
“In the Varsity Eight I thought we executed our race plan fairly well, but we kind of got blown out in the first 500 meters,” Horner said. “I think our starting sequence needed to be a little more aggressive."
Although the races are behind them, the Blue Devils have not lost sight of Columbia and Northeastern. Horner said in the future the Lions and Huskies would continue to be good matchups for the Duke squad.
Next, the Blue Devils will travel to Clemson, S.C., April 18 to compete in the Clemson Invitational—a renowned regatta featuring top-ranked competition, including two-time defending national champion Ohio State.
“At Clemson there’s going to be schools we match up really well with and schools that are probably a little bit above us,” Horner said. “Ohio State and Virginia may be schools that are a little faster than we are, but in a six-lane format like that, you have to expect the field to go out fast.”
In preparation, the Duke V8 will work to power a more aggressive start and the 2V8 will continue to improve the length of the final sprint.
“I think we need to keep doing what we’re doing, which is keep trying to work on being aggressive,” Horner said. “ This wasn’t the outcome we had hoped for this past weekend but…we talked about resiliency, I think we have to be ready to bounce back from it.”
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