SPORTS BRIEF: Men’s lightweights sweep Cornell and Penn, only to lose to Georgetown by less than two seconds

Perfection was short-lived for the Harvard men’s lightweights, as the varsity lost a tight race to Georgetown on Sunday. After Saturday’s dominant sweep of Cornell and Penn, it seemed the Crimson would wrap up the weekend with further successes on Sunday. Harvard’s opponents had other ideas.

In the varsity race, Georgetown seized a slight initial advantage over the three other boats, but the Crimson remained close. As each boat tried to gain seats on the other, both crews strained to grab a lasting lead. The crews exchanged seat advantages, with neither establishing much distance on one another. As the race progressed, Delaware and Columbia, who had once challenged the two leaders, dropped a bit off the pace.

Ultimately, Georgetown crossed the finish line in 5:55.2, narrowly defeating Harvard, which finished in 5:56.7. The margin of victory was just half of a boat length. Delaware came in soon after Harvard, finishing in 5:59.9, and Columbia crossed almost a full 10 seconds behind the victor, coming in at 6:04.0.

“Georgetown had a great race,” said five-seat Marc Luff. “They took us off at the start, and then we didn’t make a move when we should have.”

“The varsity rowed hard,” said coxswain Felix Yu, “but they were up against a better crew.”

“We commend them,” Yu noted, “but we’re definitely looking forward to meeting them again.”

Meanwhile, the second and third varsity crews scored victories over the three other boats.

In the second race, which turned into a two-boat duel between Harvard and Georgetown, the Crimson, in 6:05:02, edged the Hoyas by nearly three seconds. Columbia and Delaware finished over six boat-lengths behind the Crimson, in 6:21.5 and 6:29.7, respectively.

Harvard’s third varsity nailed a 10-second victory over of Georgetown and Delaware. Both freshmen teams came in a distant second to the Lions.

The Crimson looks to get back on track this Saturday, when it takes on Dartmouth and MIT in the Biglin Bowl on the Charles River. Harvard has won eight of the last nine in the Biglin Bowl series, and a victory Saturday will give the lightweights their third consecutive victory over MIT and Dartmouth.

—JULIE R. S. FOGARTY