M. Lights Fall to Seventh at Nationals

The Harvard lightweight crew travelled to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s National Championship regatta looking for redemption after a rather disappointing season. The Crimson found little solace, however, as the varsity boat failed to qualify for the Grand Final and had to settle for first place in the Petite Final.

“Rowing in the Petite Final was pretty embarrassing,” co-captain Pat Todd said. “You already know you lost so it’s kind of pointless.”

“Not to take anything away from other schools, but our program is strong enough to challenge for the IRA title each year—we always expect to race well enough to make the grand final,” co-captain and coxswain Joe Finelli added.

The Crimson had to place in the top three in its preliminary heat in order to race in the Grand Final. However, after placing fifth at Eastern Sprints, Harvard was seeded last in the first heat, behind Yale, Penn, Navy, UCLA and Columbia. The Crimson held on with Yale at the front of the pack until the 1000-meter mark, but then Harvard started to fall back while the Lions made a move to pass.

“Columbia put on a good charge and we shot ourselves in the foot by letting our own boat speed slip at the same time,” Finelli said. “I thought we had a shot to catch Navy, but we didn’t get it done.”

The Crimson finished in fourth place, while the Elis took first, followed by Columbia and the Midshipmen. That left Harvard to race in the Petite Final.

“The league and the heats are very competitive and if you’re not racing well as a boat you quickly pay a very real price,” Finelli said.

Harvard won the Petite Final in 5:54.0 after battling with Penn throughout the course. The Quakers posted a time of 5:55.68 while Delaware, MIT, Georgetown and UCLA trailed in behind the top pair.

In the Grand Final, Eastern champion Yale won the crown in 5:38.13, edging out Navy by .41 seconds. Princeton, Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth rowed in after the Elis and the Midshipmen.

In addition to the varsity eight, Harvard also sent a pair composed of JV rowers and two fours. One four, made up of one JV rower and three freshmen, competed in the Open Four-with-coxswain event while the set of four freshmen rowed in the Freshman Four-with-coxswain race.

“After Sprints we looked to see who wanted to stay and keep racing—we wanted to give our freshmen a chance to see what the IRA is all about,” Finelli said. “They had a good season and we have high expectations for them in the future, so our coaches decided to let them start their varsity careers a bit early.”

The Crimson freshman four posted Harvard’s best finish, placing fourth in the Grand Final after taking fourth in its heat and then winning the repechage.

Temple won the Grand Final in 6:28.22. Princeton and Cornell finished close, in 6:31.19 and 6:31.54, respectively. Harvard grabbed fourth with a time of 6:34.85.

The Crimson pair won its first heat, beating a duo from Richard Stockton by .07, and earning a spot in the Grand Final. There, Harvard’s time of 7:22.75 placed sixth while Cornell won the event in 6:53.76.

In the Open Four event, the Crimson took the long route to the third level final. Harvard placed fifth in its preliminary heat, third in the third repechage and third in the fourth semifinal to earn a place in the third final.

There, the Crimson finished second in 6:46.82 while Colgate won by almost four seconds. The Washington four won the Grand Final.

In the weeks leading up to sprints and IRAs, Harvard had juggled its lineups, looking for revitalization and speed. And though the shifts came through during practices, they, unfortunately, did not translate to better racing results in the end.

Then again, disappointment in seventh place in a highly competitive setting attests to the excellence of Harvard’s program.

“This past racing season has been a true disappointment, there’s no way around it,” Finelli said. “But that just goes to show how high the expectations are around here, and that’s a good thing. I feel very lucky to have become part of a program that prepares you to win and makes you feel like it’s not good enough if you ever lose.”