The Crimson opened its spring season at No. 8 Cornell with a loss to the Big Red and a victory over No. 7 Penn.

In the first varsity event, the Crimson got off to a clean start, but the Big Red capitalized on a slight tailwind, building on its advantage in the second 500 meters and then again in the last 500 meters.

Cornell finished just under two lengths ahead of Harvard, while the Quakers pulled in 3.7 seconds after the Crimson.

“[Cornell is] a very good boat,”co-captain and coxswain Joe Finelli said. “They beat us totally fairly and they moved throughout the race. They deserve great credit for being more prepared than we were for an intense race.”

Cornell continued to dominate in the second varsity event, beating Harvard by 10.8 seconds while Princeton trailed the Bid Red by 21.7. Both of Cornell’s boats finished ahead of Penn in the third varsity competition, while the Crimson did not race.

On the freshman side, Harvard’s first freshman boat finished last in a tight race, with Penn taking its only top finish as Cornell and Harvard lagged behind by only seconds. The Crimson took second in the second freshman event, while Cornell earned its fifth first-place and Penn trailed Harvard by almost 20 seconds.

The Crimson raced without co-captain Pat Todd this weekend because of a back injury. While Harvard is the defending national champion, it is aware that resting on its laurels is not an option, especially after seeing the competition this weekend.

“The biggest thing that we take from this weekend is that we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Finelli said. “We’ll have to work harder in practice, be more competitive. We can’t settle for what we have.”

The lightweights open the home season on the Charles River next weekend in the Biglin Bowl against Dartmouth and MIT.

“I expect very intense racing because Dartmouth had a great spring last year and they’ve had a few early season races,” Finelli said. “MIT is probably faster than they’ve ever been, since I’ve been in college anyway, and they’re also a deeper squad.”

Harvard Heavyweight Crew

at Seekonk River

1st Varsity: Harvard 5:57.1; Brown 6:01.6

2nd Varsity: Harvard 6:05.5; Brown 6:17.6