The Bucknell Men had a long weekend of racing this past weekend of April 28th and 29th. The first stop was at Lake Onata in Pittsfield, MA to race ECAC rival Williams College. With a strong west wind, the 2000m course was not rowable, so races were instead run over a distance of just over 1500m. The first race of the day was the Varsity 8+, which saw very close racing in the first 600m, with Williams gaining a ½ Length lead by the half-way point, and holding on to top the Bison Varsity by 2.4 seconds.
The next race down the course was between the ECAC favorite Williams 1F and the newly formed Bucknell 3V, which saw the Bucknell 3V fight hard for the first 500 before fading in the last 1000m, finishing 29 seconds behind Williams.
The Second Varsity 8+ transpired much like that of the 1V race, with the boats dead even through 500m, Williams opening up to a length lead, which the Bucknell Men were able to close down to 4 seats before running out of racecourse, finishing 2.5 seconds behind Williams.
The next stop was in Worcester, MA for a Sunday morning duel with The College of the Holy Cross on Lake Quinsigamond. The conditions were fast with a variable cross-tail wind and flat water, the first race of the day was between the 3rd Varsity 8+’s. The boats were deadlocked in a tough battle for the first 800m of the race, with Holy Cross eventually breaking contact at 1000m and pulling away to a 26 second margin.
The following face was between the 2nd Varsity 8+’s, which was hotly contested – both crews were even or within 2 seats for the first 1000m, but the pace of HC proved too much, moving out to a 5 second margin by the finish.
The final, most anticipated race of the day was between the Varsity 8+’s, which not unlike the 2V race beforehand, witnessed very tight racing for 1300m, with no crew ever breaking contact and racing hard for the lead. Despite showing their best speed this year, the Bison men well short by a closed length, finishing 3.6 seconds behind Holy Cross.
The Bucknell Men will now use their first weekend off since March 10th to prepare for the ECAC National Championships, in which they will return to Worcester seeking medals in every event.