Cornell's heavyweight rowing team closed its fall season with victories by its third and fourth varsity eights at the Cornell Fall Classic on Saturday morning on the Cayuga Inlet. The Big Red raced Dartmouth and Syracuse in two timed flights over 5,000 meters.
The third varsity eight won its first flight by four-tenths of a second, and the fourth varsity eight won its second flight by 3.8 seconds, according to Cornell's meet recap.
Third varsity closes strong for narrow win
Cornell's third varsity eight finished its opening race in 16 minutes, 5.3 seconds, edging Dartmouth's 16:05.7 and Syracuse's 16:09.9.
The Big Red were third at both the 1,500- and 2,500-meter checkpoints and trailed by about two seconds at 3,700 meters. A closing split of 4:23.8 carried Cornell to the win.
The second flight was even tighter across all three crews. Syracuse won in 15:55.1, Dartmouth followed in 15:55.6 and Cornell finished in 15:56.8 after leading at the opening checkpoint.
Fourth varsity leads throughout second flight
Cornell's fourth varsity eight won its second race in 16:12.3, ahead of Dartmouth's 16:16.1. The Big Red led at every checkpoint, building an advantage of 1.3 seconds at 1,500 meters and 2.1 seconds at 3,700 meters.
Cornell improved by 27.7 seconds from its opening time of 16:40.0. Dartmouth won that first flight in 16:29.6.
Second varsity improves; Syracuse sweeps first varsity
Cornell's second varsity eight took third in its opening race in 16:01.6, behind Syracuse's 15:36.5 and Dartmouth's 15:40.6. The Big Red then improved by 19.5 seconds to finish second in 15:42.1, beating Dartmouth by 2.9 seconds and finishing 8.1 seconds behind Syracuse.
Cornell passed Dartmouth between the 2,500- and 3,700-meter checkpoints and posted the second flight's fastest closing split, 4:09.3.
Syracuse won both first varsity flights. In the opener, Syracuse finished in 15:16.2, Dartmouth in 15:20.8 and Ithaca in 17:11.2. Cornell did not finish after reaching the 3,700-meter checkpoint in 11:19.7.
Cornell completed the second first varsity race in 15:27.4, behind Syracuse's 15:16.8 and Dartmouth's 15:17.2. Dartmouth led at each intermediate checkpoint before Syracuse's closing split of 4:04.2 delivered a four-tenths-of-a-second win.
Spring season begins at home
Cornell is scheduled to open its eight-event spring season at home against Drexel on Saturday, March 27. The schedule culminates with the Eastern Sprints and IRA championship in May.
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