Harvard Crew Teams Turn in Strong Performances

Spring has finally sprung for Harvard and Radcliffe heavyweight and lightweight teams, which, for the first time of the spring season, were able to row in good weather over the weekend.

Men’s Heavyweight

The No. 5 Harvard men’s heavyweight team was in action at its spring season debut on the Charles. The Crimson faced off against MIT and No. 3 Princeton for the Compton Cup. The Crimson split this weekend, falling to the Tigers but downing the Engineers.

Princeton, which had won the cup last year, had a quick start and had a half-boat length lead after the first 250 meters of the race. By the halfway mark by the bridge, the Tigers held an open water lead, and it seemed that crew would go on to coast to a win.

Harvard’s V8 boat was not to be counted out, though. The crew redoubled its efforts to come within four seats of Princeton, but did not have enough time to overtake the Tigers and finished 1.7 seconds behind at 5:43.4.

While it is Princeton’s second consecutive year taking home the Compton Cup, Harvard still leads the all-time series with 62 wins, including 11 of the last 14 seasons.

The second varsity boat was the only one with a first place finish on the day. In this race, though, it was Harvard that jumped out to an early start, though its lead was smaller. Halfway through the race, the Crimson began to pull away, but the Tigers were always hot on its heels. With 750 left in the race, Princeton made a move to overtake the Harvard boat, but its Ivy rivals managed to hold onto its lead. Harvard went on to stop the clock at 5:44.7, Princeton at 5:47.9, and MIT at 6:24.3.

In the 4V race, though the Crimson had an early lead, the Tigers overtook it in the second half of the course to win by two seconds. Princeton also won the 3V race by nine seconds.

Men’s Lightweight

The No. 5 Harvard men’s lightweight team continued its win streak against No. 9 Dartmouth and No. 12 MIT over the weekend. The Crimson beat out its Ivy League and cross-town rivals to take the Biglin Bowl.

Harvard swept both opponents on the Connecticut River in Hanover, N.H. The varsity eight boat, coxed by junior Charlie Zhang and stroked by sophomore Andre Dupuis, had another close finish. Last year, the crew finished just ahead of MIT, and this year, it narrowly beat out Dartmouth by 1.7 seconds.

“I thought our boat had a good race - it felt like we were in control from the very first stroke. Dartmouth stuck with us and kept pushing us,” co-captain Ian Klein said. “I think we could have done a better job of stopping their momentum earlier, but they proved to be a pretty resilient crew.”

It was a tight race between the Crimson and the Big Green throughout the entire course, with the Crimson finishing at 5:38.3 and the Big Green at 5:40.0. MIT rounded out the race with a time of 5:49.1. With this win, Harvard marks its eighth straight year bringing home the Bowl, and 53rd time overall.

The second varsity boat took advantage of the light tail wind and current to beat out Dartmouth by open water. The squad finished at 5:41.9, with Dartmouth coming in 13 seconds later, and MIT 7 seconds after it.

Both third and fourth varsity crews bested the Big Green by open water in the 3V race, while the fifth varsity four A and B boats also finished by open water ahead of the Engineers.

“It seems like the league this year is very fast, and it's definitely clear that we have some work to do in the next couple of weeks leading up to HYPs and the Eastern Sprints to unlock some speed” Klein said. “We have all the pieces, just need to put it all together.”

Women’s Heavyweights

The No. 17 heavyweight team had a full weekend, with the first and second varsity teams making an appearance in Clemson, S.C. for the Clemson Invitational, while the third and fourth varsity boats stayed behind to compete against four other Boston teams.

“The Clemson Invitational is an important race for us because we get to race so many teams that we otherwise don't see except at NCAAs, so doing well there can be crucial so the people who select which teams go to the national championships can see how we compare to them,” junior Abigail Parker said. “Therefore, we really try to do our best at Clemson. We're always trying to get faster.”

After second and third places in qualifying races against ranked teams earned the first varsity boat a place in the finals, the Black and White found itself again in close competition with the likes of No. 4 Ohio State, No. 14 Washington State, and San Diego.

While Ohio State had pulled away to nab the top spot by seven seconds at 6:34.7, the second place was left up for grabs by Washington State, Radcliffe, and San Diego. By the end of the race, Radcliffe had been outpaced by the Cougars by four seconds with a time of 6:41.8, but had themselves outpaced the Toreros by that same amount to take third place with a time of 6:45.1.

The second varsity boat, after qualifying for the final race, finished fourth in the final race. Like the V8 squad, the 2V boat competed for third place with Louisville and San Diego. The Black and White was just edged out by Louisville by one second and took fourth with 7:01.7. Ohio State also took this race with 6:44.8, and Washington State followed again, stopping the clock at 6:53.0.

The V4 boat finished second twice on Sunday, first with a time of 7:47.7 and then later on with a time of 7:20.4.

Back in Cambridge, the 3V A and B boats took first and second in their race against Dartmouth, Northeastern, BU, and UMass, with times of 6:57.6 and 7:06.4, respectively.

Women’s Lightweights

Also in Cambridge was the No. 4 lightweight crew, which competed in the fifth annual Lightweight Invitational against BU, MIT, Stanford, and Wisconsin.

In the petite finals, both the first and second varsity boats won against MIT. The first varsity won by seven seconds, crossing the finish line at 6:42.2, and the second varsity won by open water, finishing at 6:54.7.

By the end of the first day, Radcliffe was solidly in second place. Facing choppy waters, the V8 boat finished at 6:46.0, nine seconds behind first-place finisher Stanford, which stopped the clock at 6:37.8. The second varsity boat won over MIT by open water.

“I think all three of our boats racing at Clemson had some good and some bad in their races this weekend,” Parker said. “We all faced tough competition and got a chance to fight it out in close races, which is great experience. Our four especially had a really great weekend and beat a lot of teams that we weren't able to catch in our first two eights, which was awesome to see.”

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherine.scott@college.harvard.edu.