ATHLETES’ CORNER
Women’s rugby wins
Beast of the East
Last weekend, the MIT women’s rugby team traveled to Portsmouth, RI to compete in Beast of the East, the largest collegiate rugby tournament in the nation. On Saturday, MIT won both seeding matches against Keene State and Mt. Holyoke. On Sunday, MIT moved up the bracket, winning the quarter-, semi-, and final matches against George Washington University, Southern Connecticut, and Holy Cross, respectively. The team showed much heart and perseverance playing through five matches with a very small roster and outscored their opponents by a total of 150-5. At the end of the weekend, MIT brought home a shiny, hard-earned first-place trophy.
Heavyweight crew takes 2nd in Compton Cup
Saturday morning on the Charles River, MIT’s heavyweight varsity men finished second in the Compton Cup held between Harvard University, MIT and Princeton University. A year ago, Tech battled with Princeton for 2000 meters, edging them out for second place for the first time since 1975. This year, with a more inexperienced crew, the Engineers managed to repeat the finish, but had to rely on luck. On the windy, cold, choppy Charles River, Harvard and Princeton pulled away from MIT through the first half of the race. At the Harvard Bridge, Princeton hit a particularly high wave, causing an out-of-position oar to break the rudder cable. Out of control, the Princeton boat then took a sharp right turn, colliding with Harvard and breaking off Princeton’s bow. Harvard was able to continue, beating Tech by a healthy margin of 26 seconds. The Tigers, however, was forced to stop and did not finish. MIT coxswain Rishi Dixit ’12 steered the Engineers around the disabled Princeton boat drifting into their lane, and MIT and finished in a time of 6:19.
“We make our best moves when the other crew isn’t rowing,” remarked Coach Tony Kilbridge. “Next year we would like Harvard to stop rowing also.”
On Friday, April 16, MIT’s freshman heavyweight four raced two Harvard fours comprised of their second freshman squad. Tech placed second, finishing nine seconds out of first place and fourteen seconds ahead of third place.
The Engineers will race next in a “Battle of the Beavers” next Sunday against Oregon State University on the Charles River. Eastern Sprints rival College of the Holy Cross will also compete in that race.
— Lucas Goodman, Team representative