Top Boats Settle for Second in Worcester

The Harvard men’s heavyweight and lightweight crew teams are no strangers to the big stage, and when EARC Sprints come around, they expect to find themselves racing in the final heat.

Needless to say, last year provided a shock for the Crimson’s first varsity eights when each boat missed its respective Grand Final at Easterns and had to settle for wrapping up their days in the petite final.

This season, the Harvard crews reclaimed their places among the EARC’s best yesterday at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., winning their first heats by decisive margins to advance to the Grand Finals.

“Last year was a disappointing season for the whole team,” lightweight captain Jeff Overington said. “This year was a complete 180-degree turnaround. We decided from Day 1 that we were going to turn things around this year.”

Upon reaching the final heats, both first varsity boats faced stiff competition.

The heavyweights found themselves in a fierce three-way battle with Wisconsin and Brown. While Harvard outpaced the Badgers by almost two seconds, its 5:42.625 finish was not enough to gain an edge over the Bears. Brown’s first boat gave its Crimson counterpart trouble in the crews’ first meeting of the season, finishing just a second behind Harvard in a dual meet. Yesterday, the Bears quickly erased an early Crimson lead and maintained its advantage to take first in 5:41.363.

“There was good competition,” said heavyweight captain and second-varsity four seat Teddy Schreck. “We expected that. [The Bears] proved to be strong, especially towards the end of the race.”

The first varsity lightweights turned in a similar performance to the heavies, rowing strongly but ultimately falling short to a familiar foe. Harvard blew past most of the field easily in the Grand Final, with its 5:43.990 showing beating third-place Georgetown by over four seconds. But Princeton, which had dealt the Crimson its only loss of the season on April 25, had Harvard’s number once again. The Tigers jumped out to an immediate lead, and while the Crimson stayed close and made a push around the 1000-meter mark, Princeton ultimately held on to win the race with a final time of 5:41.433.

“It was disappointing to come in second place, but it’s a strong Princeton boat that won,” Overington said. “We raced well in the final.”

While the varsity eight races headlined yesterday’s competition, Harvard displayed its depth as well, receiving solid performances from its other boats.

The lightweights particularly turned in impressive results across the board, winning the Jope Cup by scoring 33 points on the day, two ahead of second-place finishers Yale and Princeton.

The second varsity eight finished third in their race with a time of 5:59.002, trailing leader Yale by four seconds and second-place Navy by less than one tick.

The lightweight 3V garnered the best results of any Crimson boat, dominating its race to dust runner-up Cornell by over three seconds with a 6:07.190 finish.

“It was great to see the third boat win their race,” Overington said. “They had an awesome couple of weeks of training leading up to this. They executed their plan really well.”

The first and second freshman lights turned in second and third place finishes, respectively.

The heavyweights also notched 33 team points while contending for the Rowe Cup. Unfortunately for Harvard, Brown paced the field with 41 to take first.

After easily winning its first heat, the second varsity eight faltered in the Grand Final, dropping down to fifth place and wrapping up the race almost 10 seconds behind first-place Brown at 5:56.657. The 3V came in at 6:03.246, good enough to take second, but was no match for an overwhelming Wisconsin boat that crossed the finish line at 5:57.455.

“There are a lot of guys in the third and foruth boats that could easily step up in the first and second boats,” Schreck said. “It’s nice to have guys who can push each other all the time.”

The freshman heavyweights also continued to show a competitive edge, with the first boat taking second while the second took third in its race.

Both Harvard crews have ample time off to prepare themselves for the IRA National Championships, which begin on June 4 in Sacramento, Calif.

—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.