May 11, 2006

Bucknell women's rowing doesn't really like to play by the rules, or even acknowledge the rules. No, we don't go breaking NCAA regulations, and we're not going to be arrested. We prefer to break the subtle rules, the unspoken but understood ones. "College students like to sleep late, and sleep lots". Ha! Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with a rower knows how absurd that one is. "Teams seeded last don't get first". Wrong again. As late as March 17th, rowing polls put Bucknell fifth of five schools in the Patriot League. They had obviously never met us, never watched us do a million reps of leg presses, never heard Coach's speech about moving up. We knew exactly what we had to do to move up one place, two places, three places. Move down? Not a chance. That never made it onto Coach's whiteboard.

I'll admit, hindsight is confidence. Sitting at the line, waiting to start, that same confidence in a Bucknell win wasn't there. I think we had high hopes for third, and a glimmer of possibility at second, but I'm pretty sure we didn't even allow ourselves to dream of first. Maybe it was being the underdog, maybe we've spent more time on the erg, and more time on the water than the other schools, and maybe it was pure luck, but something drove every one of Bucknell's boats to new levels that day.

Once again, Rowing is breaking the rules. For most sports, the pinnacle of their season is reached in the final tournament, and then it's over. We, however, do it again. We head to Dad Vails this weekend for the last regatta of the season, and the last chance to erase any lingering doubts about Bucknell's speed. Winning the Patriot League title didn't change our position in Dad Vails; it didn't qualify us for Dad Vails, and if we had horribly flopped at Patriots, we'd still be trying again at Dad Vails. People ask us which is our big race, which one matters? The answer is both of them! For the school, Patriots is the big race. We earned points in the President's Cup for Bucknell by winning Patriots. For honor and prestige within the world of rowing, Dad Vails is the time that matters. For the athletes of the Bucknell women's rowing Team, we want them both.

- Cara Cox-Steiner '08