BOSTON – Under sunny skies and fair conditions with a slight tailwind, the University of Pennsylvania men's heavyweight crew kicked off the spring season on the Charles River with the Burk Cup race against Northeastern. Unfortunately, the Huskies retained the Cup with a 2.5-second win in the Varsity Eights race.
 
Varsity 8+
Northeastern jumped out to a hot start, picking up a half-length lead on Penn and maintaining a full-length lead entering the second 1,000 meters as the Quakers tried to maintain contact. Northeastern was able to hold on to its healthy lead to secure the Burk Cup for the third straight meeting, and five time in the last seven, with a time of 5:46.26. Penn's time was 5:48.78.
 
Second Varsity 8+
Northeastern found another fast start in this race, with two Huskies' shells in the lead through the second 500 meters. It then became a two-boat race as the 2V broke away from the field with an open water advantage, leaving Penn and the Northeastern 3V in a fight for second place during the second half of the race. The Quakers' time was 6:00.30.

Varsity 4+ 
Penn found itself in a tight race with NU to close out the morning, the crews going stroke for stroke down the course before the Quakers were able to pull away late and secure a three-second win over the Huskies in 6:36.95.