M. Crew Tops Defending EARC Champions

The Harvard men’s heavyweight crew left little doubt this weekend that the balance of power in the East has shifted from Princeton to Harvard. The swing had been foretold by the national rankings for weeks, and Saturday on the Charles, the No. 2 Crimson backed up its billing with a convincing six-second victory over No. 5 Princeton to win the Compton Cup.

The Tigers entered this season as the defending Eastern champions and the national runners-up. But irreplaceable losses to graduation from last year’s first varsity boat left them unable to contend against the Crimson.

Harvard was the clear favorite entering the race, having beaten Princeton in their last 21 meetings on the Charles. Though the 22nd-straight victory was expected, it still meant a lot to the Crimson rowers, who hadn’t beaten Princeton since the last Compton Cup on the Charles two years ago.

“This time we were ranked ahead of them, but it’s always good to beat Princeton,” said captain and stroke Wayne Pommen. “Their boats are strong every year.”

MIT, usually the third boat that challenges for the Compton Cup, only had enough rowers to compete in the novice division.

That left the rain as the only force that could potentially stop the Crimson, but the bad weather held off until later in the morning and was not a factor.

The first varsity race was even for the opening minute, but Harvard increased what was a six-seat lead at the 500-meter mark to one length at the Mass. Ave. Bridge, and to two lengths at the 1500-meter mark. With the race no longer in doubt, Princeton gained some ground on the final sprint, but Harvard still won easily.

The first poll from the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges has yet to be released, but Harvard has established itself as the favorite at the May 19 Eastern Sprints. The Crimson first varsity hasn’t won there since 1990, when it won the first varsity, second varsity and freshman titles.

The Harvard boats are in contention to repeat that feat this year, though it’ll take some improvement.

The second varsity boat—consisting mostly of the rowers from the freshman boat that won its division at Eastern Sprints last year—is also still undefeated following a six-second victory of its own over Princeton’s second varsity on Saturday.

The freshman boat, however, has had mixed results. The frosh lost their race to Princeton by 2.5 seconds and an earlier race against Navy by a length and a half. But the freshmen did beat the usually solid Brown freshmen by nearly five seconds last week, and they still believe they’re one of the better frosh crews in the East.

Harvard’s last remaining opponent before Eastern Sprints is Northeastern on May 4. Since the No. 4 Huskies’ first varsity is the highest ranked boat in the East other than the Crimson first varsity, the race should be the perfect tune-up for a Harvard boat with high expectations.

Men’s Lightweights

The defending national champion men’s lightweight crew fell to No. 5 Dartmouth for its second-straight loss but finished far ahead of No. 11 MIT. The lightweights, now ranked sixth in the nation, fell to No. 4 Cornell last week but beat No. 10 Penn.

Though the Crimson fell short on Saturday, the loss has no lasting implications, and the team feels it can improve in time for rematches at Eastern Sprints and the IRA national championships.

“It was disappointing to lose, but overall yesterday’s race was a step in the right direction,” said co-captain and coxswain Joe Finelli. “We made some mistakes in the second 1000 meters, but they are mistakes we are aware of, and we’re confident we can fix them.”

The first 1000 meters were a back-and-forth affair, as the Crimson was down a half a length at the start, ahead by two seats at 800 meters, and even at the halfway mark at the Mass. Ave. Bridge. But Dartmouth pulled ahead early in the second 1000 meters and outsprinted the Crimson down the stretch to win by a length.

Dartmouth won the Biglin Bowl with the victory—just its second in the event’s 47-year history.

Though the first varsity lost, the second varsity and both freshman boats each won convincingly.

“[Our JV boat] worked quite hard this past week and they earned their win,” Finelli said. “Both of our frosh boats also got the job done, which was great to see.”

The Crimson next goes on the road to face two nationally-ranked opponents, No. 2 Navy and No. 8 Georgetown, so the team won’t have to wait long for another challenge.

“We had a good week of practice leading up to this race, and much of what we worked on helped us in the race,” Finelli said. “That’s a good sign. We’ll add more of the pieces to the puzzle this week.”

The Harvard lightweights, who have won the national championship every odd-numbered year since 1993, will have plenty of work to do to defend their title. They have struggled with injuries—co-captain Patt Todd is among those who has yet to race. But the team will look on any returnees from injury as an added bonus and can get the job done with the rowers it has.

“In the long-term, I’m confident that we will continue to get faster each week,” Finelli said. “We’ve got the guys we need to win in the end, and we’ve also got the right attitude, so I’m looking forward to more and more progress each week.”

M. HEAVYWEIGHT CREW

Compton Cup at Charles River

1st Varsity Eight: 1. Harvard 5:53.6; 2. Princeton 5:59.5

2nd Varsity Eight: 1. Harvard 6:00.4; 2. Princeton 6:06.1

1st Freshman Eight: 1. Princeton 6:04.4; 2. Harvard 6:06.9; 3. MIT 6:39.1

M. LIGHTWEIGHT CREW

Biglin Bowl at Charles River

1st Varsity Eight: 1. Dartmouth 5:59.9; 2. Harvard 6:03.5; 3. MIT 6:14.4

2nd Varsity Eight: 1. Harvard 6:17.7; 2. Dartmouth 6:18.8; 3. MIT 6:33.4

1st Freshman Eight: 1. Harvard 6:10.5; 2. Dartmouth 6:16.3; 3. MIT 6:29.8

2nd Freshman Eight: 1. Harvard 6:37.6; 2. MIT 7:00.9; 3. Harvard 3F 7:20.7