HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England – It was a special moment for the Northeastern men's rowing program on Saturday morning at the Henley Royal Regatta when the team's two entries squared off in a head-to-head quarterfinal race at the best-known regatta in the world on the River Thames.
As the Northeastern coaching staff looked on in the umpire launch, the crews battled down the 2112-meter course, with the Northeastern 'A' boat prevailing by two lengths to advance to the Temple Challenge Cup semifinal, becoming the seventh Northeastern crew to move to a semifinal at Henley.
"It was an interesting experience out there today," said head coach
John Pojednic. "It's pretty unusual to see two teams from the same program racing each other in the quarterfinals at Henley. Internal competition is deeply embedded in the culture of our program, and it was fun to be at the starting line seeing the guys chatting each other up like they do in practice every day. As a staff, that was fun to see in this environment because it's something that we really value in our program."
The Northeastern 'A' boat will take on Newcastle 'A', which came back to defeat Brown by three quarters of a length in its quarterfinal, on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).
On the water, the 'A' crew, coxed by
George Doty with
Jan Berend in the stroke seat, got off to its best start of the week to lead by a quarter of a length at the end of the island before extending it to a full length at the quarter mile marker with a stroke rate of 42.
With both crews stroking at 38 coming through the Barrier, it was the 'A' crew that continued to increase its advantage to a length and three quarters before bringing it to a full two length lead at Fawley, going through the three-quarter mile mark at 3:00 before finishing with a time of 6:19.
"The 'A' boat is substantially faster, and there were no surprises out there today," Pojednic said. "I think the 'A' boat was able to row a good, clean start that they were happy with for the first time this week. We were able to get the halfway mark and calm things down a bit to save energy for tomorrow."
The 'B' crew, coxed by
Maggie Sweeden and stroked by
Nolan Parks, concludes competition at Henley after winning its first two races handily over Eton College (three and half lengths) and A.G.S.R Gyas from the Netherlands (two and one quarter lengths).
"The 'B' boat raced three solid races at Henley" Pojednic said, "which is great for their experience, and all but one are coming back next season. I think overall it's been a really great experience for them."
The 'A' crew, meanwhile will look to become the fifth Northeastern crew ever — and just the fourth eight — to advance to a Henley final when they take to the River Thames on Saturday.
"The whole idea here is to take it one step at a time and try to get faster each time we race and turn the dial a notch with each new day," Pojednic said. "Once again, we live to fight another day at Henley and we're looking forward to it."
Boatings, Timetable and Results
| Northeastern 'A' |
Northeastern 'B' |
| QUARTERFINAL: vs. Northeastern 'B' |
QUARTERFINAL: vs. Northeastern 'A' |
| Winner - Northeastern 'A' |
Winner - Northeastern 'A' |
| Verdict - 2 Lengths |
Verdict - 2 Lengths |
| Barrier - 1:46 |
Barrier - 1:46 * |
| Fawley - 3:00 |
Fawley - 3:00 * |
| Finish - 6:19 |
Winning Time - 6:19 |
| HEAT 2: vs. Oxford Brooks University 'B' |
HEAT 2: vs. A.G.S.R. Gyas, Netherlands |
| Winner - Northeastern 'A' |
Winner - Northeastern 'B' |
| Verdict - 1 1/3 Lengths |
Verdict - 2 1/4 Lengths |
| Barrier - 1:46 |
Barrier - 1:49 * |
| Fawley - 2:09 |
Fawley - 3:05 * |
| Finish - 6:25 |
Finish - 6:25 |
| HEAT 1: vs. University of London 'B' |
HEAT 1: vs. Eton College |
| Winner - Northeastern 'A' |
Winner - Northeastern 'B' |
| Verdict - 1 1/4 Lengths |
Verdict - 3 1/2 Lengths |
| Barrier - 1:46 |
Barrier - 1:52 |
| Fawley - 3:05 |
Fawley - 3:09 |
| Finish - 6:35 |
Finish - 6:37 |
| - - |
- - |
| C: George Doty |
C: Maggie Sweeden |
| S: Jan Berend |
S: Nolan Parks |
| 7: Will Lerwick |
7: Louis Pratt |
| 6: Braeden Camp |
6: Aiden Bridwell |
| 5: Elias Kun |
5: Cole Brann |
| 4: Cormac Purcell |
4: Jeremy Newton |
| 3: Jasper Angl |
3: Dan Cone |
| 2: Jan Hennecke |
2: Rhett Burns |
| B: Reuben Houghton |
B: Aaron Goodman |
