Crew Improves Over Time

The Harvard and Radcliffe crews bid a fond farewell to their departing seniors by turning in solid performances throughout the season. The Radcliffe heavyweights again gained an NCAA berth, and the Harvard heavyweights competed against Yale in the 136th Harvard-Yale Regatta in New London, CT. The Harvard and Radcliffe lightweights participated in the National Championships in Camden, N.J., last week.

The results of NCAAs, the Harvard-Yale Regatta and the National Championships appeared in the June 4 edition of the Crimson.

Harvard Heavyweights

The Harvard Heavyweight crew faces the Harvard-Yale regatta with a successful season at its back and the title of fastest crew on the Charles.

The Varsity boat (5-1) began the spring racing season with a splash when it upset then-No. 1 Brown by four seconds, sending Harvard into the top ranking. But this standing was short-lived as Princeton caused further upset the following weekend by beating the Harvard boat by 2.3 seconds.

These races set Harvard up for its third seed going into Eastern Sprints, where it raced into second place and second-team All-Ivy honors.

"The Brown race was one of our stronger races," said senior coxswain Jon Cahill. "The best race of the season was at Eastern Sprints."

Princeton pulled into first place at Sprints, followed by Harvard and a strong Northeastern crew that won third.

Harvard also defeated Northeastern in its dual race this season, avenging its loss to the Huskies in the Head of the Charles and finishing its season undefeated on home water.

The Harvard freshman stood out with first place finishes for both the first and second boats, giving Harvard the last of its nation-leading 54 Eastern titles.

Though the Crimson has dominated over the Elis in previous races this season, the Harvard-Yale regatta is an exciting match-up between America's oldest intercollegiate rivals on the four-mile course on the Thames River in New London, Conn.

Harvard Lightweights

The Harvard lightweight boat (6-2) enters the National Championship on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., with a third-place Eastern standing and a strong season behind it.

"The first weekend, we lost to Columbia, but we responded well to that and won some key races," said senior Noah Bloom. "We gained speed the whole season and we had some good races early on."

After Columbia, the Crimson's only other loss came against Yale, at the World Cup regatta. At Eastern Sprints, Yale took the crown and Dartmouth pulled into a surprise second, just past Harvard.

"We have to respect [Yale] as a very fast crew, but we also know that we're a contender," Bloom said. "We hope that we can turn the tables."

The first boat benefits from the experience of five seniors, four of whom faced a similar situation two years ago going into IRAs. The proficiency of the seniors has helped make the season as successful as it has been.

"Our first boat is mostly seniors," said senior Phil Mariani. "It's been fun rowing with the guys I rowed with freshman year."

The second varsity boat, as well as the first and second freshman boats, took sixth place at Sprints, while the third varsity boat took fifth. After a solid season, the lightweights expected higher results overall at Sprints, but will have a chance at redemption at the National Championship where they will race the varsity boat as well as two four-boats.

Competition in the lightweight division this year has been tighter than ever, which sets up IRAs as an open regatta for the taking provided that Yale does not dominate as it has in past races.

"Yale is definitely the crew to beat," Mariani said. "Each time we've raced them, we've picked up speed on them. We're confident in our abilities."

Radcliffe Heavyweights

The Radcliffe heavyweight (6-5) eight earned fourth place at Eastern Sprints, as well as its fourth consecutive NCAA berth in its fifth consecutive winning season.

Despite a downward slide of close losses at the end of the season, the Black and White broke out of its sixth seed to earn a surprise fourth place and put the finishing touches on a team ready to race in NCAAs on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, G.A.

All of the Black and White's losses were to other NCAA qualifiers: Boston University, Yale, Syracuse, Princeton, and Brown. Two of those losses, to Boston University and Yale, were avenged at Sprints, a key factor in Radcliffe's bid.

"It got off to a slow start, but we pulled things together at Spints," said co-captain Mayme Hostetter. "We're really excited to avenge those close losses. People aren't nervous, they're hungry."

Radcliffe's berth was aided by the performance of the rest of the crew. Both the second varsity and the novice boats earned second place at Eastern Sprints and have raced well throughout the entire season.

"I think that the team overall has been outstanding," said senior Holly Fling. "I don't think we've reached our full potential and we'll go even faster at NCAAs."

The varsity four boat went into sprints undefeated, but settled for fifth in the Grand Final. NCAAs is also its opportunity for vengeance.

Radcliffe Lightweights

The Radcliffe lightweight crew (4-2) enters the National Championship on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J., third behind Wisconsin and Princeton. This regatta will be the third time the otherwise successful crew has raced the two top teams.

The Black and White boat has earned wins over Massachusetts, Tufts, M.I.T and the Wesleyan JV Heavyweights.

Radcliffe has had previous success on the Cooper River when it placed third in the Knecht Cup and second at the Villanova Invitational earlier this year. But recent races against Princeton and Wisconsin at the World Cup regatta and at Sprints have plagued the Black and White.

"[The results of Sprints were] a function [of the fact that] they jumped out early," said captain Laura Heyns. "We were stuck in no-man's land. This boat is full of fantastic competitors and tenacious people who won't give in to Wisco and Princeton."

Radcliffe will get a third shot at the top two teams on the Cooper River. And for two seniors, it will be their last race for Radcliffe.

"It's only me and Nancy [Poon] graduating, so there is a great platform to do better things next year," Heyns said.