Even the torrential downpour couldn't quiet the enthusiastic crowd cheering on the UB women's crew team as two boats raced neck and neck to the finish line in the last race of the inaugural Harvey Cup on Sunday.
From the efforts of the seniors on UB's second varsity eight boat, you couldn't tell that the Eastern Michigan Eagles had already won the Harvey Cup, which is awarded to the winning varsity eight team of the regatta each year.
The Eagles took the cup with a time of 6:28, edging out the UB varsity eight boat with a time of 6:35.
But the story of the day was the last race.
In what was the last match in Buffalo for several members of the UB team, the Bulls wanted nothing but a victory in front of their hometown fans, who stood in the pouring rain cheering for them.
With UB's second varsity eight boat and the Eastern Michigan boat nearly even, the crowd let the women know they were there for them.
The UB women gave a final push and took the race by a few feet.
"We started ahead and they came back on us, but with about 250 meters left we out-stroked them," said UB senior Sara Sheffer. "You don't want to lose at home."
Along with Sheffer, three other seniors were in the second varsity eight boat for UB. Tracy Clarke, Amy Aldridge and Jess Ecke were participating in their last race here in front of a home crowd at Tonawanda Creek.
"The fact that people were there, and the fact that we had four seniors in our boat was a big deal," said Chandra Hazey. "We really pushed it out for them."
Of the four races on the day, UB finished with two victories, in the second varsity eight race by one second, and the novice eight in commanding fashion.
The UB novice eight boat posted a time of 7:01, beating Eastern Michigan whose time was 7:20. The head coach of the novice team, Andrew Wieler, was pleased with the women's performance Sunday.
"We were at the Knecht Cup last weekend and we had a disappointing race," said Wieler. "I think they (novice eight boat) really came together as a crew and raced the way they should. I think coming in the petite final last weekend really fueled their fire for this weekend, they were really up for this race."
With the rain and wind, the conditions were cold, but as the clich?(c) goes "the race must go on."
"We're lucky, if this is as bad as it gets here (at Tonawanda Creek), its fantastic," said Bulls' head coach Rudy Weiler. "If we had been in Eastern Michigan today we wouldn't have been racing, the water here is great for training and for racing. In fact we're just really lucky with the place we have because it's so well protected."
In the other matches, the Bulls' varsity eight, and varsity four teams lost close races to very competitive Eastern Michigan boats. The varsity four team lost by five seconds, but made a hard push when nearing the finish line.
"We started out and had the lead, but at about the thousand meter mark they pulled ahead," said rower Joanne Olsen. "The weather didn't effect us, it was a little cold but we're used to rowing in the rain."
"I don't feel badly about any of the kids, I think they did a great job," said Wieler. "We didn't win the Harvey Cup this year, but were going to go out next year and try to win it back"
Victor E. Bull was also in attendance and gave the girls "two hoofs up" on their performance on the day.
The UB women's crew team will be in action again next weekend at Whitney Point in the New York State Championships. The Final competition of the season is the Metro Championships in Worcester, Mass. on May 9.
