By Guy D. Schoonmaker

Both the men’s and women’s crew teams notched their first victories of the season this weekend, with both winning their respective meets.

The men competed in the Arlett Cup on the Charles River, which is named after the late Ernie Arlett, Northeastern’s first men’s crew coach. The win gave Northeastern a 22-7 lead in the Arlett Cup.

It was the seventh straight year the men have beat Boston University in the annual event. However, it wasn’t an easy victory for the Huskies. The Terriers got off to a fast start by grabbing a boat length lead at the 500-meter mark.

There was a crosswind on the Charles River that made it tough for the rowers, but senior captain Will Miller said that was no excuse for the poor start.

“It was a really disappointing start,” Miller said. “We were a little bit flustered in the start, but we regained our rhythm around the 500 mark.”

At the halfway point of the 2,000-meter race, Northeastern still trailed by about seven seats, but the second half of the race belonged to the Huskies. At the 1,500 mark, Northeastern closed the gap to two seats, and 100 meters later they caught the Terriers and pulled away to win by 3.9 seconds. Northeastern finished with a time of 6:03.4 and BU clocked in at 6:07.3.

“At this level it is very hard to come back from the deficit they did,” head coach John Pojednic said. “In that regard, I was very pleased.”

The women’s team had a much easier time on the water Saturday at Lake Onondaga in New York. Northeastern blew by Syracuse and University of Pennsylvania to take home the Orange Cup.

Senior captain Christina Mulka said she was happy with the team’s performance.

“Syracuse and Pennsylvania are historically really good competition,” Mulka said. “We had to row really hard.”

Battling strong head winds and rough water conditions, the Huskies snatched a one boat-length lead in the first 500 meters and extended it to over three lengths by the end of the race.

“The weather was really crummy,” Mulka said. “But we got off to a really good start and pulled away nicely.”

Northeastern finished the race with a time of 7:18.3 compared to Syracuse’s 7:32.7 and Penn’s 7:37.5, quickly dismantling Syracuse’s hopes of winning the cup for a fourth straight year. The Huskies have now won the Orange Cup 13 times, with Penn holding nine victories followed by Syracuse with five.

“This is a pretty classic rivalry,” head coach Joe Wilhelm said. “These three crews have been racing this cup for a long time.”

Mulka said she is excited about how the season is starting.

“I think we are looking really good this season,” she said. “We have put in a lot of hard work and I think it will show.”

The men’s team will host Brown University this weekend while the women’s team will take on Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia. Both events will be held on the Charles River.