The No. 3-ranked Wisconsin men's crew defended its Cochrane Cup with a victory over No. 8 Dartmouth and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Lake Mendota Saturday morning. UW followed that up Sunday with a victory in the Jablonic Cup over No. 17 Boston University and, once again, MIT.
The schools rowed on Wisconsin's east course because of the morning's east winds. Flat water and temperatures near 50 degrees welcomed the rowers at the Burrows Park start line. The second varsity race had ideal conditions, but the wind picked up between the second varsity eight and first varsity eight races, slowing the school's top boats.
In the top race, Wisconsin paced to a 6:01.48, beating Dartmouth by nearly five seconds. The Big Green finished the 2,000-meter course in 6:06.31. MIT was third in 6:55.94.
\Dartmouth was quick off the line,"" Head Coach Chris Clark said. ""From my perspective, Dartmouth led for the first 400 meters. At about 500 meters, we started to pull away slowly. Around 1000 meters [we] were able to execute a powerful move and take open water. With approximately 500 meters left, we were up not quite two lengths and held that difference the rest of the way.""
In the second varsity eight race, Wisconsin also took top honors with a 6:04.35. Wisconsin's third varsity eight was second with 6:06.83, followed by Dartmouth's second varsity (6:17.02) and Wisconsin's fourth varsity eight (6:24.75).
The following day, the Badgers won their eighth-consecutive Jablonic Cup when they defeated No. 17 Boston University and MIT on Lake Mendota.
With temperatures in the lower 50s and a stiff headwind, the Badgers outlasted the Terriers to claim the title. Wisconsin stroked to a 6:11.9, while BU finished in 6:29.9. Former UW men's coach Randy Jablonic, whom the trophy is named after, was in attendance for the event.
""Both crews were fairly close for the first 500 meters,"" Clark said. ""For us, since the conditions included a stiff headwind, we rowed at a slower 35 strokes per minute. BU, a smaller and quicker crew, rowed at a 37. During the middle 1000 meters, the head wind took its toll on BU. Our crew, bigger and stronger, had an advantage as we were able to move away in the middle 1000 meters.""
Wisconsin boats took the top three places in the second varsity eight, with its second varsity boat finishing the 2000-meter course in 6:21.1. UW third and fourth boats finished in 6:29.6 and 6:36.8, respectively, to complete the top three spots. BU's second varsity was fourth in 6:44.9.
