Illinois Wins Palindrome Cup

The final race of the day had one of the closest finishes and was a must-see for the day - though not for first place. WashU's two varsity 4+'s went 1-2 with commanding leads over the rest of the field, but Indiana University and the University of Illinois fought hard the whole to decide third place. While this battle for third may seem trivial, this battle had a trophy on the line to determine who would win the newly created Palindrome Cup in the annual "UI v. IU" race. The Illini opened up an early lead, but fell quickly back after a bobbled stroke. The Illini were able to recover and close the gap, but Indiana continued to fight off Illinois' charges. In the final 500m, the crews continued to swap the lead, until the very end when Illinois was able to edge out Indiana to capture the first Palindrome Cup by less than 4 seats. Both crews agreed the cup would drive both crews to perform better next season, with Indiana bent on capturing the cup, and Illinois determined to keep it.