The women's crew dominated Boston University on Saturday in its first home contest of the season, sweeping five races from the Terriers on the Seekonk River. With a win in the varsity eight, the Bears won the Arlene Gorton Cup for the 16th consecutive year.
"Everybody is really excited about how we did this weekend," said tri-captain Cristina
Caligiuri '09.
The women alternated races with the men, who swept four races from Northeastern.
"We don't get to do that very often," she said. "The spirit at the boathouse was very positive this week. Seeing them on the water and knowing that we're all working towards the same thing, it was great to have the men racing at the same time as us."
The day began with a stunning performance from the novice eight. The Bears surged off the line to quickly open a large lead that they continued to grow. Brown crossed the line at 6:49.50, while BU lagged far behind at 7:23.63.
Caliguiri said the rookies' win was a promising beginning to the day.
They've "been getting better all season," she said. "We are really excited about them and about having them on the team this year. It was exciting for the whole team to watch them, especially since they were the first to race."
The second varsity eight kept the momentum going by cruising to another easy win. The Bears finished in 6:28.22, while the Terriers followed 19.08 seconds later.
The varsity eight bounced back from a loss to Ohio State the previous weekend by dispatching BU, clocking in at 6:18.52 while the Terriers finished at 6:30.44, but Caliguiri said the Bears were not thinking about the Buckeyes on Saturday.
"Our team moved on after our weekend against Ohio State and focused on BU," she said.
The Bears closed out the day with a dominant display of depth, fielding five boats in the two varsity four races. In the second varsity fours, Brown "D" crossed the line at 7:29.51, followed by Brown "E" at 7:39.17 and BU at 7:46.32.
All three Bears' boats topped the Terriers in the varsity fours, which featured the only tight race of the day, albeit one between two Brown boats. Brown "A" finished at 7:06.34, beating out Brown "B" by just 95 hundredths of a second. Brown "C" followed at 7:17.26 and BU brought up the rear at 7:22.23.
"We have a large team, a deep team, and everyone performed really well," Caliguiri said.
Brown will host Cornell and Columbia on Saturday on the Seekonk River in the penultimate race before the postseason begins with the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints.
"I think we're all excited to work hard again," Caliguiri said. "Eastern Sprints are quickly approaching, and we have a lot of work to do."
