HENLEY-ON-THAMES, England – With tens of thousands of fans lining the shores of the River Thames on an overcast Saturday afternoon, the Northeastern men's rowing team 'A' crew held off a feisty Newcastle 'A' boat in a thrilling semifinal of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. The Huskies, which knocked off Newcastle by one-third of a length with a final time of 6:05, advance to the final race at Henley for the fifth time in program history, and fourth time for an eight boat.
"It's a dream to compete at Henley, and not many people get to do so," said head coach
John Pojednic. "What's really true is that there's very few people who get to wake up on Sunday morning at Henley and be in a final. It's something that these guys will never forget."
Rowing out of the Bucks station, the Huskies reached the end of the island stroking at 46 to Newcastle's 44, leading by three feet before extending it to a quarter length at the quarter mile marker. With both crews at 37 strokes per minute approaching the Barrier, it was Northeastern up by a half-length, crossing at 1:46 for the fourth straight day. The Huskies then slightly decreased its stroke rate to 36 to take a three-quarters of a length advantage at Fawley, reaching the marker at 2:58, it's fastest time of the week.
After upping its lead to a full length at the three-quarters of a mile mark and maintaining through the next checkmark, Newcastle began to fight back as the crews reached the Regatta Enclosure, cutting the deficit to a half-length and then a third of a length approaching the finish. From there both crews gave it everything they had, with the Huskies ultimately using its power and strength to fend off its opponents, taking the race by one-third of a length.
"I can't say enough about that Newcastle eight," Pojednic said. "My hat goes off to them and they're a great bunch of guys. They pushed us really hard. That was a good, fit crew, and I think that was exactly the kind of race our guys needed to have."
The Huskies advance to face Oxford Brookes University 'A' in Sunday's final at 2:30 p.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET). It knocked off Newcastle University 'C', University of London 'A', Boston University and A.S.R Nereus (Netherlands) en route to reaching its second straight Temple Challenge Cup final.
"There's no doubt that we're going to face a very strong crew in this Temple Challenge Cup final tomorrow," Pojednic said. "Today was the first hard race we've had since the Grand Final at the IRA Championship. We hadn't been under the gun like that in a while. The guys have some energy left in them, but it was good to blow some of the cobwebs off today."
The Huskies, which entered the day as one of six American crews remaining in the entire regatta, is now just one of two American crews that will race in a Henley final on Sunday.
"It says that these guys have done a great job continuing their progress since the IRA," said assistant coach
Justin Jones. "I think it says that Northeastern Rowing is a program that gets to go out there and compete with the best there is internationally. I think the guys really value that opportunity, and we're up for one more good one tomorrow."
Jones, currently in his fourth season on the coaching staff, was a team captain and sat in the stroke seat the last time Northeastern reached a final race at Henley in 2013.
"I think the guys are humble about the position that they're in and they're hungry to go out there and have their best race on the last day," Jones said. "We talk a lot about ramping up through a championship and getting a little bit better every day. I think they're ready to go out there and lay down their best race."
"We're looking forward to relishing the chance to wake up on Sunday morning in Henley as a finalist and be ready to put everything we have out on the racecourse," Pojednic said. "I couldn't be prouder of the guys."
Boatings, Timetable and Results
| Northeastern 'A' |
Northeastern 'B' |
| SEMIFINAL: vs. Newcastle University 'A' |
|
| Winner - Northeastern 'A' |
|
| Verdict - 1/3 Length |
|
| Barrier - 1:46 |
|
| Fawley - 2:58 |
|
| Finish - 6:05 |
|
| 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 - 2:59 |
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 |
