Close wins on crooked river
George Jones
Issue date: 9/25/09 Section: Sports
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That was the phrase most commonly overheard along a bend in the Cuyahoga River near downtown on Saturday during the Head of the Cuyahoga regatta, as various crew teams from the area lifted their boats both toward and away from the river. Clubs at the adult, college, and high school levels all competed. The Case Western Reserve University Crew Club, comprised of alumni and current students, had a good showing at the regatta.
The club had two victories out of the six events in which they entered. The closest of those wins was in the men's eight-person race, where the CWRU team beat the team from Cleveland State by four seconds, 14:08 to 14:12.
"It was really close. We didn't really know if we were going to beat them or not," said stroke Matt Moss. "We tried catching them and it didn't seem like we were, but we caught them by four seconds, and it was in the last stretch that we did it. We just put everything into it in the last 500 meters of the race."
"It was really intense the whole way, especially when you're trying to catch another boat in front of you," said Moss. "We wanted to row as hard as we could but we also had to stay in time with each other. It's really technical. There's a lot to think about when you're in a race."
The most impressive victory was by Case graduate student and current coach on the club, Miranda Cullins. Cullins won her solo race in a time of 15:41, more than two minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.
"My strategy for this race was to keep my stroke rate at a 28 [per minute], try to finish under 16 minutes, and to hug the turns because knowing the river as well as I do is a big advantage at this race," said Cullins.
Crew is a club that definitely brings out the alumni contingent, with a team of alumni racing along with undergraduate teams.
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