Last weekend, the Georgetown University lightweight women’s rowing team faced Princeton in the Class of 2006 Cup. The Princeton Tigers bested the Hoyas in a day consisting of four 2000 meter duels on a choppy Lake Carnegie, boosted by a strong tailwind. The women’s openweight team traveled to the Cherry Hill Invitational in Cherry Hill, N.J., where the varsity eight boat finished third in the Grand Final late in the afternoon. The men’s lightweight team also competed against Penn and Princeton last Saturday in Philadelphia, where they struggled to find any success.

The Hoyas’ first varsity eight boat fell by only 3.2 seconds in a time of 7:29.0, while the first varsity four was edged out by an almost identical margin, crossing the finish line in 7:24.7.

The 2X sculling event saw the Hoyas dominate down the stretch, finishing with a strong time of 7:39.3, over 22 seconds in front of the Princeton pair. The 3V4 race produced an exciting spectacle with the Georgetown quad emerging victorious at 7:36.6 in between two Princeton boats.

Despite falling to the strong Tigers squad, the Hoyas put together a solid showing, marking the day with two victories and two competitive second place finishes against some of the best competition they will see all year.

At the Cherry Hill Invitational, three boats competed for the women’s openweight Hoyas. The first varsity eight boat topped its heat in the morning with a time of 6:57.77. This performance put Georgetown in lane four for the Grand Final where the squad captured third place, finishing a mere 10 seconds behind victors Rhode Island.

The women’s second varsity eight opened the day with a fourth-place finish in the morning, qualifying the Hoyas for the Petite Final. Later in the day, the second boat registered a five-second drop from its morning time, edging out a competitive field thanks to a second wind.

Another Hoyas varsity squad secured first place in the event’s final heat of the morning session. The efforts of freshmen Ruth Axton, Jackie Hall, Helena Jensen, and Abigail Sauvign, and sophomore Caroline Moffatt sent the Blue and Gray to the varsity four Grand Final. In a challenging afternoon race to close out the day, the Hoyas were still able to drop a second from their morning victory time, earning fifth place in a time of 8:33.24.

The outing in New Jersey was strong evidence of the progress of the openweight program, as well as the depth of the roster. The women’s openweight team return to action this Friday, April 26, at the Lake Wheeler Invite in Raleigh, N.C.

In Philadelphia, the men’s lightweight team competed in three separate races on the Schuylkill River. The first race was an enticing one, with just two seconds between the finishing times of the teams. Georgetown finished second right behind Princeton with a time of 6:03.35, beating Penn by just 0.4 seconds. Junior coxswain Ryan Zuccala led the boat’s efforts combined with fellow junior Olivier Malle at stroke.

The second and third races did not fare as well for the Hoyas, as they finished third in both races behind Princeton and Penn after falling back early.

The men’s lightweight team will return to Philadelphia to compete against Temple Saturday,  April 27, while the heavyweight team breaks a bit longer before traveling back to Philadelphia to race Penn and Cornell on Saturday, May 4.