Crew Falls to Tigers But Awaits Sprints

While the Harvard men's heavy-weight crew team's race against Princeton and MIT was solid, the result--a loss to Princeton--was disappointing.

The team hopes to erase that disappointment by defeating Penn and Navy Saturday for the Adams Cup.

"We'll have to approach [Saturday's race] with renewed aggression," senior John O'Loghlen said. "We're very disappointed with losing [to Princeton]."

Harvard finished just over a length shy of Princeton--the top-ranked team in the nation--last Saturday. However, Harvard edged the Tigers in the same race last year.

Had the team faced more pacific weather conditions, the Crimson might have finished three or four seconds closer to the Tigers.

"Ordinarily, it's a nice race course, but the conditions were atrocious last Saturday," captain Jon Feeney said. "We faced high winds and choppy water. Rowing was leg pressure--there was an awful lot of extra energy you had to put into it."

The Harvard-Princeton race was the real race, since MIT finished about 40 seconds behind the Crimson.

"Princeton is clearly the crew to beat," Feeney said. "So is Brown; they're right up there. However, Princeton is rowing the best right now. They're a bunch of strong guys."

Harvard must now focus on technical work in preparation for the Adams Cup race.

"[The results of the Harvard-Princeton-MIT race] won't matter this Saturday," Feeney said. "The challenge is who can improve the fastest before the Harvard-Penn-Navy race. We'll have to put in a lot of technical work on the water."

Unlike other races, such as the BU-Dartmouth-Rutgers and Harvard-Princeton-MIT races, this Saturday's race will feature three perennial contenders.

"The Adams Cup is the hardest to win," Feeney said."

Harvard seeks to avenge last year's finish behind Penn at San Diego. Penn finished second in the Sprints last year, but the subsequent disqualification of Northeastern made the Quakers the titlists.

"Penn has an excellent coach and improves fast," Feeney said. "It's hard to tell what Navy's like, although they have a strong crew every year."

All three teams have won the Eastern Sprints title before.

In last year's Sprints, Harvard defeated Navy and lost to Penn.

"We're on as equal a footing with these teams as we've ever been," O'Loghlen said.

"We have a lot of potential," Feeney said. "We're in the hunt."

Penn and Harvard each lost to Princeton by similar margins this year.

Navy will host Saturday's race, which is on the Seagrand River in Annapolis, MD, a nine-and-a-half hour bus ride away.