Coming off two strong weeks for the No. 5 Wisconsin men's crew program, UW heads east to spend the weekend in the Boston area to race Saturday for the Cochrane Cup and Sunday for the Jablonic Cup.
UW looks to win its 26th Cochrane Cup this weekend in Cambridge, Mass., facing off against No. 11 Dartmouth and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wisconsin has won the cup in each of the past two seasons and five times in the last six seasons, and looks to defend its title for a third consecutive year.
Last May on Lake Mendota, Wisconsin's varsity eights won the Cochrane Cup race with a time of 6:01.48, while Dartmouth took second at 6:06.31 and M.I.T. finished last at 6:55.94. This year's race for the Cochrane Cup will be hosted by M.I.T. The boats will begin racing at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Sunday, Wisconsin turns around and heads for the waters in Boston to race for the Jablonic Cup. No. 14 Boston University, the race's host, will be Wisconsin's competition. The Badgers easily beat Boston University and M.I.T. last season on Lake Mendota to come away with the Jablonic Cup. UW beat the second-place Terriers by 18 seconds last May. The Badgers have been the defenders of the Jablonic Cup for the past six years and have only relinquished control of the Cup once in its 15 year history.
The Jablonic Cup is named after former Wisconsin crew Head Coach Randall Jablonic, who was coach at UW from 1968-1996, while the Cochrane Cup is named after former president of M.I.T. Admiral Edward L. Cochrane.
Following the double-header weekend for UW, the Badgers will have two weeks to prepare for the Eastern Association of Rowing College's Championships May 16 in Worchester, Mass.
