ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 2 Cornell men's lightweight rowing team opened the cup portion of its schedule in dominating fashion, sweeping No. 6 Penn and No. 5 Harvard, retaining the Matthews Trophy and Leonard Cup, and extending its current winning streak to 17 consecutive head-to-head victories.

The race had originally been scheduled for Saturday morning, but was moved up due to the threat of inclement weather.

"Special thanks to the people behind the scenes who helped us deliver a Friday evening race event here on the Cayuga Inlet," said Chris Kerber, the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing at Cornell University. "All the athletes and coaches would agree it was special."
 
With cold temps and a swirling wind facing the crews on the Cayuga Lake Inlet, Cornell opened the day with an emphatic victory in the fourth varsity eight, besting the Crimson by just under 16 seconds.
 
The second varsity eight and varsity eight races came next, and while the margins of victory were more closely contested, the outcomes were the same with the Big Red beating Harvard. With its victory over the Quakers in the varsity eight race, Cornell has now won the Matthews Cup 22 times in a row.
 
The third varsity eight race was another dominating victory, with Cornell crossing the line nearly 10 second in front of the Crimson, while the fifth varsity eight beat Harvard by just over eight seconds.
 
In the final race of the day, the Big Red's varsity four downed Penn by just over 16 seconds.
 
"Our athletes were really happy and proud to put this evening's outcomes into the history books," said Kerber. "The work and commitment level behind the environment we are creating is the driving force behind the results of our league opener tonight. We look forward to opportunities to develop ourselves in the future."

The Big Red has a busy weekend on tap, as it travels to No. 4 Princeton on Saturday, April 16 to race for the Platt Cup, before heading to Connecticut to take on No. 3 Yale on Sunday, April 17.
 
RESULTS
Varsity 8:
Cornell 5:51.2
Harvard  5:54.3
Penn  5:55.6
               
2nd Varsity 8:
Cornell 5:56.4
Harvard  5:59.0
Penn  6:08.3
               
3rd Varsity 8:
Cornell 6:06.2
Harvard  6:16.0
Penn  6:20.6
               
4th Varsity 8:
Cornell  6:05.5
Harvard  6:21.4
Penn  6:37.5
 
5th Varsity 8:
Cornell 6:14.8
Harvard  6:23.0
Cornell 6V  6:23.4
               
Varsity 4:
Cornell  7:11.2
Penn  7:37.3