For the sixth consecutive time, No. 3 men’s lightweight rowing took home the Harriot Trophy at the Platt Cup race, defeating Princeton University on Saturday, April 12. The win marked the longest streak in program history.
The 1V8+ secured the win for Red, logging a time of 5:51.8 — nine seconds quicker than the Tiger’s 6:00.8 time. The 2V8+ slightly outpaced the Tigers by a margin of under two seconds, and the 3V8+ had similar success, outpacing by under four seconds.
“This is just what we needed to prove to the league and ourselves that we are a legitimate championship contender this year,” said senior captain Peter Albrecht. “Our ballsy racing mindset combined with our determination to make a statement to the rest of the league ended up being our edge.”
Cornell entered the Platt race off of a loss to both Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania at the Matthew Cup on April 5. The 1V8+ raced 5:33.6, narrowly losing the second-place finish to the UPenn boat by under a second. Harvard’s boat finished first with a 5:31.6 time. Senior Emmett Patterson said that although the close loss was demoralizing for his team, he is confident they can recover confidence for the rest of the season.
“We rowed a race with good effort; however, we had sub-par execution and technique,” Patterson said. “When it comes down to margins, it's often small things like catch timing or drive sequencing that add up. While it was definitely a frustrating result, we knew we had a lot more to improve at every boat level.”
The Red will host Dartmouth College at the Baggley Bowl on Saturday, April 26. As long as the team makes small technical adjustments, Patterson said he has high expectations for the rest of the season.
“Looking ahead to Dartmouth, we must continue to improve our technique on the water, fitness and overall mindset when it comes to racing,” Patterson said. “Our goal when we started this season in August was to win a national championship, and that remains unchanged.”
Coverage of the Baggley Bowl will be available on ESPN+.
