The Bucknell Men traveled to Geneva, NY to compete against Hobart College on the Seneca Lake Canal on April 20th. 20-30mph winds from the east made the lake course un-rowable, so all races were contested in the adjacent canal. The races went off in order of 1V, 2V and 3V, respectively.
The Bison Varsity 8+ was the first to compete, challenging the Hobart varsity in the early stages of the race but struggled to cope with the 20mph head wind in the 2nd 1000m – the Bucknell Varsity would eventually fade to an open-water deficit to finish with a time of 7:03.08
The next event down the course was the 2V – which was contested in the worst conditions of the day, with sustained winds above 25mph and gusts over 30mph. The racing was tight as Hobart held a slim lead for the majority of the race, the Bucknell 2V had serious trouble dealing with the adverse wind conditions and fell to an open water deficit at 1000m – which they were able to close to within one length by the finish – 3.5 seconds behind.
The final event of the day was the 3V, which featured the Bucknell 3V against the Hobart 3V and 4V. Conditions had stabilized slightly with winds in the low 20mph range with flat water throughout. Racing was fierce as the Hobart 3V slowly pulled out to a half-length lead at the 1000m mark. The Bison 3V then began to move back in the 3rd 500, drawing even with 500m remaining and pulling away to win with a final time of 7:44.4, with the Hobart 3V trailing by 5.1 seconds in 7:49.5.
The Bison men are now preparing for a full weekend of racing as they will travel to Lake Onota in Pittsfield, MA to compete against Williams College on Saturday, April 27th before traveling to Worcester, MA to compete against College of the Holy Cross on Lake Quinsigamond on Sunday.