Harvard Crews Cruise in San Diego

Spring break can mean "fun in the sun"--even if you have a few races to run.

That's what the Harvard men's and women's lightweight crews proved this past weekend, sweeping the San Diego Crew Classic.

The men's lightweight crew dominated a field of 11 boats, finishing in the slow time of 6.32.25 into a strong headwind in San Diego to clinch the Commodore's Cup. The lights finished 4.35 seconds ahead of the defending national champion Yale squad.

The Crimson win snapped the Bulldogs' recent stranglehold on the event. Although the Yale crew did not participate in the races last year, it won the San Diego Classic championship the previous five years.

The win also marked Harvard's first win ever over Yale since the seniors have been rowing at Harvard.

"We knew we had the power to beat Yale ever since just losing to them at the Nationals last year," senior coxswain Mark Coyne said.

Penn finished 5.5 seconds behind Yale to finish third, just one second ahead of California-Berkeley. The University of British Columbia and California-Santa Barbara rounded out the top six in the early-season warmup for all squads.

"This was a big turnaround for us after three slow years," Captain Jim Hines said. "We start this season off as the ones to beat. We're a lot stronger with several seniors returning from last year's squad."

Joining Hines and Coyne on the squad are seniors Sam Shuffler--a member of last year's national lightweight crew squad--John Velyvis, Tom Patterson, Eric Davis, Mike Horvath, Andrew Hoyt and sophomore John Leete.

The lightweights pulled out to a four-seat lead in the first minute of the race and maintained the advantage until pulling away from the Bulldogs in the last 400 meters.

"This was an important race because it gives us a strong sense of confidence," Coyne said. "It's the biggest win for us since I've been rowing here at Harvard."

The junior varsity lightweight crew's late rally fell short as it lost to Yale in the JV division race in San Diego.

The women's lightweight crew, which returns this season after finishing second to the University of Tampa by a few hundredths of a second in the nationals last spring, opened its season by also winning in southern California. The squad successfully defended its San Diego Crew Classic Championship with an 11 second victory.

Back home on the chilly Charles, the women's crew began its campaign with a 13-second victory over UMass and MIT this weekend. The JV squad also began its season in impressive fashion with its own 15-second win.