No. 2 Navy Sweeps M. Lightweight Crew

A change of scenery didn’t make the results any better for Harvard men’s lightweight crew.

The four Harvard boats were all outraced by No. 2 Navy in Maryland on Saturday. The first novice boat, which lost by 7.8 seconds, came closest to victory, while the first varsity, second varsity and second novice each fared worse.

Then yesterday morning, the first varsity boat, ranked No. 6 in the nation, fell at No. 8 Georgetown by 4.1 seconds. That defeat will likely cause another drop in the rankings for the defending national champion Crimson.

The lone victory on the weekend came from the first frosh boat, which beat Georgetown’s novices by 6.8 seconds.

Harvard will try again to turn its season around in the coming week. The Crimson has had a history of improvement throughout each season, but injuries are making success tougher to come by this year.

The competition isn’t getting any easier though, as No. 1 Yale and No. 3 Princeton are this weekend’s opponents.

“We’re putting in the effort but we’re not seeing the results right now,” co-captain Joe Finelli said. “It’s frustrating, but we’re not going to get too down about it. We’re looking forward to getting faster and faster, and of course to hosting H-Y-P’s this weekend.”

Harvard Lightweight Crew

at Severn River

First Varsity 1. 6:05.2 Navy 2. 6:14.8 Harvard Second Varsity 1. 6:07.9 Navy 2. 6:21.5 Harvard 3. 6:22.3 Navy (3V) First Novice 1. 6:06.8 Navy 2. 6:14.6 Harvard Second Novice 1. 6:22.9 Navy 2. 6:32.8 Harvard 3. 6:58.5 Navy (3N/4V)