THE BASICS:
 
- Event: Knecht Cup
 
- Location: Cherry, N.J. (Cooper River)
 
- The Lead: The nationally ranked No. 9 MIT men's lightweight Varsity 8+ captured the Knecht Cup on Sunday afternoon. The Engineers also placed fourth in the Second Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ Grand Finals while the Lightweight 4+ was fourth in its final.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- V8 Heat: Competing for lanes on Saturday morning, MIT steadily moved on Mercyhurst throughout the race and crossed the finish line first in 6:06.83. Mercyhurst was second (6:15.41), followed by Lehigh (6:29.48), and Fairfield (6:42.78).
 
- V8 Semifinal: The Engineers dominated their semifinal on Saturday afternoon, capturing a comfortable win in 5:44.79. Trinity was the runner up (5:58.01), followed by Army West Point (6:01.52), Catholic (6:13.77), and Fairfield (6:36.04).
 
- V8 Grand Final: Heading into Sunday's race, MIT had the third fastest time as Mercyhurst and La Salle (racing side-by-side in their semifinal) both came in at 5:42 while Drexel was close behind in 5:45. The Engineers trailed Drexel and Mercyhurst in the first 200 meters, but they slowly moved back. Around the 1000-meter mark MIT widened the gap, just barely reaching open water between itself and Drexel by 1500 meters. Although Drexel and Mercyhurst closed the gap, the Engineers held them off enough to win the race by 2.52 seconds. MIT recorded a time of 5:56.27, followed by Drexel (5:58.79) which is currently ranked No. 15 in the IRCA/IRA Men's Heavyweight Varsity 8+ Poll. La Salle was third (5:59.43) as Mercyhurst (5:59.70), George Washington (6:03.45), and Trinity (6:08.84) completed the field. (Click here to watch the race)
 
- 2V8+ Semifinal: MIT raced La Salle hard through the first 1500 meters but fell off the pace during the final quarter of the race. La Salle finished 4.95 seconds ahead of the Engineers (6:05.48 – 6:10.43) while Drexel "B" (6:12.69), Lehigh (6:33.71), George Washington "B" (6:47.87), and Marietta (6:54.42) rounded out the field.
 
- 2V8+ Grand Final: MIT logged a time of 6:03.43, its best relative to the conditions for the event, to finish in fourth place. Drexel "A" (5:55.95) and Drexel "B" (5:59.31) took the top two spots, followed by La Salle (5:59.89), the Engineers, Trinity (6:09.57), and Michigan (6:12.42).
 
- V4+ Semifinal: MIT had a terrific race with Fordham "A" to earn a spot in Sunday's Grand Final. In the neck-and-neck battle throughout the entire course, the Engineers moved ahead in the last moments to secure second place by .21 seconds. Drexel "B" took first place (6:52.89), followed by MIT (6:56.27), Fordham "A" (6:56.48), Mercyhurst "A" (6:58.92), and TCNJ (8:36.74).
 
- V4+ Grand Final: MIT found itself in the middle of the pack, significantly ahead of Fordham "A" and Mercyhurst "A" but behind the remaining crews. The Engineers logged a solid time of 6:56.66 to finish fourth overall. Mercyhurst "B" recorded a comfortable win (6:45.36), followed by Drexel "B" (6:49.93), Fairfield (6:51.78), MIT, Mercyhurst "A" (7:02.93), and Fordham "A" (7:09.78).
 
- Lightweight 4+: Racing in the final on Sunday morning, MIT finished in fourth place. Fairfield claimed the victory in 7:03.32, followed by Iona (7:07.35), Fordham (7:18.26), the Engineers (7:23.75), and Michigan (7:48.60).
 
V8+
Cox: Alice Martynova
8: Sam Costa
7: Kieran Dunn
6: Marc Rizk
5: Daniel Kurlander
4: Harry Sillifant
3: Sam Boshar
2: Andrew Stoddard
1: Richard Sollee
 
2V8+
Cox: Zhi Wei Gan
8: Nick Dow
7: Lucas Young
6: Jakob Jarczynski
5: Kevin Shao
4: Peyton Worthington
3: Sam Packman
2: Cameron Dougal
1: Rick Ono
 
V4+
Cox: Hannah Ono
4: Stephen Alexander Brennan
3: Eric Hong
2: Aden Rothmeyer
1: Amirabbas Kazeminia
 
Lightweight 4+
Cox: Jane Atkinson
4: Julian Zulueta
3: Yicheng Huang
2: Trent Lee
1: Dylan Robinson
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT hosts Harvard, Navy, and Delaware on Saturday, April 22 on the Charles River.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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