BOSTON – The Badgers rounded out their trip to Boston on Sunday morning with a matchup against Northeastern for the Congram Cup.

The second varsity eight squad led the way for the Badgers as they finished with a time of 6:07.3 to take the top spot in the race. In addition, Wisconsin's third varsity eight boat finished second in the same race just seconds behind with a time of 6:09.2 while Northeastern rounded out the tight race with a time of 6.10.2.

"Our second varsity eight boat had two races yesterday and they looked a little tired so they didn't get out quite as explosive as they did yesterday," added Clark. "Our third varsity eight boat, who only raced once yesterday, went off as well. Northeastern fought the whole way and there was no give in those guys. But our three just stayed in there and low and behold, at the very end it was our second varsity, then our third and then Northeastern.

"It was very close but it was a good fight and our guys were excited because we haven't won much in Boston recently. So all-in-all it was a big improvement from the last few years."

The other race of the day featured the 14th-ranked Badgers against Northeastern in the varsity eight. Wisconsin's varsity eight boat raced hard and raced well, but unfortunately came up short as the ninth-ranked Huskies finished with a time of 5:57.58, seconds in front of UW who finished at 6:00.51.

This is the fourth-straight year Northeastern has taken home the cup.

"I let the guys know that this would be a difficult race," added Clark. "Northeastern only raced once yesterday so I knew they'd have the edge with fresher bodies. We bobbled a little bit at the start which gave them a few feet and they slowly pulled away. You could see we just didn't have the pop required to win.

"However, this is how this team is changing and what makes them good because there's no fold whatsoever. They absolutely refused to give Northeastern any more than they earned and it ended being less than a length. We didn't have much in the tank but they fought the whole way and our last 50 was really aggressive. These guys are on the verge of being really good. They're not quite there yet, but they're on the verge. So I'm satisfied to see that we're clearly better than we've been in the last couple years at the top level, no question about that."

In addition, to top off a solid weekend, the Badgers will return home with the Sword of a Thousand Truths. The sword is awarded to the crew in the three races that went above and beyond the call of duty and showed "bravery" during race days, regardless of the results. In particular, the sword was awarded to Wisconsin's second and third varsity eight boats for their combined effort over Northeastern's second varsity eight boat. The Spanish-forged sword is in its third year of existence, with Wisconsin winning the award in 2014 and Northeastern winning it last year.

The Badgers will be back in action on Sunday, May 15 as they head to Worcester, Massachusetts, for the 2016 Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Championships, also know as the Eastern Sprints. The Eastern Sprints are Wisconsin's conference championships.   

"The sprint could be very interesting for us, in a good way," added Clark. "For the first time in a while we're going to have two weeks preparing for the Eastern Sprints knowing who belongs where and in what boats, and that's a lot of time in the rowing world so I think we'll be ready for this thing."

Results
Congram Cup
May 1, 2016
Boston, Mass.
2000 meters

Varsity Eight (Congram Cup)
1. Northeastern, 5:57.58; 2. Wisconsin, 6:00.51
Wisconsin 1V Lineup: James Roen (cox), James Lueken, Tristan Amberger, Sam Weeks, George Perrett, Jonah Van der Weide, Andrew Griffin, Laing Wise, Patrick Muto

Second/Third Varsity Eight
1. Wisconsin 2V, 6:07.3; 2. Wisconsin 3V, 6:09.2; 3. Northeastern, 6:10.2
Wisconsin 2V Lineup: Ben Flaherty (cox), Nickolas Montalvo, Jacob Hurlbutt, James Letten, James Bernard, Michael Knippen, Christoph Bub, Peter Ginouves, Michael Spankowski
Wisconsin 3V Lineup: Michael Callahan (cox), John Hollow, David McClain, Mark Nitka, Erik Kernozek, Andrew Flannery, John Goodman, John French, Theodore Boesen