Top-Ranked Heavies, Lights Sprint to Finish

After dual seasons that have been studded with victories, Harvard goes into Sunday’s EARC Sprints in Worcester with the weight of expectation on its shoulders in both the heavyweight and lightweight divisions. But the real jewels—and the crown—still lie unclaimed in this weekend’s Sprints.

The Crimson heavyweights have been unstoppable this season, felling opponents with not only the varsity eight, but most or all of the other boats. They enter Sunday’s races ranked first in the EARC final polls for every boat apart from the second varsity, which is ranked second to Brown.

The varsity ranking has Brown in third, Yale in second, and last year’s victor Princeton in fourth. The freshman eight poll puts Brown and Northeastern after Harvard.

“Brown will be one of the crews to watch for,” captain Nick Baker said last weekend. “They will be one of the top boats in the varsity, but also in the JV the Brown boat has been the one loss our JV has had.”

Brown looks like it will indeed be Harvard’s main competitor for the overall title, with its only dual race loss this season coming from the Crimson on a very rough Charles River. On a calmer day, on water that is less familiar to both teams, it’s all to play for the Bears.

In terms of the varsity boat alone, Yale, who has not raced Brown and whose dual race with Harvard comes later in the season, could be more of a threat. However, though the Bulldogs had a slightly larger margin of victory over Princeton than the Crimson, 2.3 seconds as opposed to 1.5, Brown’s was still greater at 3.1 and Harvard pulled out the power to beat them when they faced off.

So while the other teams in Sunday’s lineup can’t be passed off as easy victories, the Crimson heavyweights, barring major catastrophe, should should find an overall win well within reach. And if the varsity boat continues to perform as it has been doing recently, its individual success is a distinct possibility as well.

The Harvard lightweights, despite starting their season with a loss to Cornell, have since then been undefeated with visible weekly improvement. They went on to beat Dartmouth—who a few weeks ago, beat the Big Red themselves—by a seven-second margin, a win reflected in the final EARC rankings with Harvard in first, followed by Dartmouth, Cornell, and Georgetown. In the second varsity, Cornell leads with the Crimson in third after Yale. In the freshman eight, Harvard is ranked sixth, with Yale and Navy leading the way.

“We’re coming into it ranked first, but the number doesn’t mean anything—if anything, it means people will be gunning for you a bit more,” varsity coxswain Mark Adomanis, who is a former Crimson editorial columnist, said. “We’re expecting it to be a real dogfight, and we’re just focusing on staying aggressive. A lot of it is making sure you bring the right attitude.”

Cornell, with a top-ranked second and third varsity and No. 3 varsity eight, could be a big contender for the overall title. Yale, ranked in the top three in both freshman boats as well as the second and third varsity, will also compete. But the Dartmouth win, despite coming early in the season, is promising for Harvard’s varsity boat, and its most recent victory over fifth-ranked Princeton also bodes well.

The vast improvement that can take place over a racing season often makes predictions difficult and rankings useless. A history of upsets at races with larger fields gives Sprints an entirely different feel from the dual races in which the teams have been participating thus far. But if all goes according to plan, then Sunday night has the potential to be a very happy one at Newell Boathouse.

—Staff writer Alexandra C. Bell can be reached at acbell@fas.harvard.edu.