The men’s Varsity eight continued their remarkable run, putting together an inspired performance on Saturday, April 7 against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Colby College to capture the WPI Class of 2003 Cup and run its dual-race record to a perfect 8-0.
Racing on the 2,000-meter Lake Quinsigamond course for the second consecutive week, the Varsity eight squad of Doug Cody ’09, Chris Cody ’07, Gael Hagan ’09, Colin Prensky ’07, Tom Volgenau ’08, Matt Carey ’07, Ben Roberts ’09, Jeremy Brown ’08, and Cox Kim Davies ’07, reached the finish line with a stellar time of 6:12.9, while WPI and Colby finished second and third, respectively. WPI came in 9.4 seconds behind the Cards, and Colby finished 11.3 seconds off the pace.
The Cody brothers, co-captain Chris and younger sibling Doug, represent the unity and chemistry that has taken form in the Varsity boat, giving the team a decided advantage over its opponents. Both Codys stressed the ability of the team to execute the race plan, praising the mental toughness the team has shown thus far.
“Every time we’ve rowed up to the starting gate, it’s abundantly clear that everyone in the boat is going to be pulling their hardest, ” Chris Cody said. “I think that one trait that has been a tremendous boon to our boat is mental discipline. Whether it’s responding to a crew making a move, executing our race plan, or running with a lead, we’ve been able to make the mental aspect of racing work in our advantage rather than letting it be a detractor to our speed, and I think this is going to be a huge help as we move into latter stages of the season.”
The younger Cody also credited the victory to a fast start.
“I believe we handled the race really well,” Doug Cody said. “The water was perfect, so it was just a matter of us finding our groove early, which we did.”
Also significant were the triumphs of the other three Cardinal boats, the first time this season that any of the sub-varsity boats have claimed first, as the Cardinals swept the competition across the board by significant margins.
“It is really great to have good results across the entire team,” Prensky said. “It shows the hard work that everybody has done to create some serious depth in our crew. It is clear that we have a strong team across all our boats and that makes for really fun race weekends.”
Even more impressive for Wesleyan Crew was the March 31 victory against nationally-ranked Holy Cross and the Coast Guard Academy to capture the coveted Sullivan Cup. On the same Lake Quinsigamond course, the varsity eight captured an extremely tight race, finishing with a blazing time of 5:59.5, only 1.8 seconds ahead of the Crusaders of Holy Cross, while Coast Guard finished a distant third.
In besting the Crusaders, the Cardinals avenged one of their three dual-race losses from a year ago and showed that this team is ready to make the leap into an elite class. The Cardinals were excited for a match-up with such a competitive, respected squad, yet confident in their ability to rise to the challenge that the race would present.
“The past weekend’s race was definitely one we’d marked on our calendars when we first got the schedule,” Doug Cody said.
Locked neck-and-neck with Holy Cross with 500 meters to go, the Wesleyan boat persevered through physical fatigue to victory lane. The other three Wesleyan boats performed well, each finishing second in their races.
“It was clear to all of us that any success would come only through a stroke-for-stroke battle from start to finish,” Hagan said. “The race itself proved to be nothing less.”
The Cardinals were ecstatic with their dramatic victory, displaying the kind of toughness and execution that is needed in close races with competitive opponents.
For the seniors, the victory also marked a significant turn for the program.
“The last time we beat Holy Cross was in 2001, so needless to say, this was an emotional victory for us,” Prensky said. “It is so rewarding to have a result like this, which really illustrates how much work our team has put in over the winter and the early part of the spring. We have been able to make the most of our time on the water so far.”
The Cardinals, ranked second in the New England Rowing Conference poll for the past two weeks (behind only Trinity College), will face fifth-ranked Tufts University and ninth-ranked Bates College in Malden, Mass. on Saturday, April 14. Also upcoming is a showdown with Trinity on April 28, in what will surely be a hotly contested battle between the two top-ranked teams in New England.
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