Three weeks removed from a victory over then-No. 1 Navy, the No. 1 Harvard varsity lightweights have found that it is anything but lonely at the top.

They’ve kept close company in dual races all season long, and a deep Eastern Sprints field is sure to guarantee them of quite a bit more contact with opposing crews.

“[As No. 1], you do have that target on your back,” said senior second varsity six-seat Nate Rogers. “The other teams are going to try to put together the fastest race that they’ve had all year. There are no more rehearsals for this one.”

And after thrilling come-from-behind victories over Yale and Princeton last weekend, the Crimson enters this weekend’s EARC Sprints Championships with two tested No. 1 rankings.

Tested, they’ve been. But defeated? Not recently.

“We’ve never been very focused on the polls,” said senior varsity three-seat Griffin Schroeder. “We don’t put [them] up in our locker room. When we weren’t number one, we still believed we were the fastest crew. Now we are number one, [and] we think we are the fastest crew.”

Rankings aside, the Crimson boats dominated the dual season—and every crew that came in behind them knows it.

“We’re going in knowing that a lot of people are out to gun us down,” said junior second varsity four-seat Chip Schellhorn. “That makes it a bit more of a challenge, but hopefully it will be something that will make us race even better. We’re using that as fuel.”

Harvard has had unparalleled success in the dual season, with the first varsity finishing at 10-1 and the second varsity a perfect 10-0. The team enjoyed its first Haines Cup victory over Navy since 2001, won a third-consecutive Goldthwait Cup over Yale and Princeton, and defeated Dartmouth and MIT for Harvard’s ninth Biglin Bowl trophy in 10 years.

But historically close Sprints finals and the parity amongst the top EARC crews make Sunday’s finishes anything but inevitable.

In the last six years, four different varsity crews have captured Sprints titles—consistency has yielded to the unpredictability of six boats lining up in a six-minute race to first place.

“There are seven or eight boats who could win Sprints,” said senior first varsity seven-seat Mike Kummer. “It’s a really tight race at the front of the field.”

“Yeah, we are No. 1,” added junior second varsity five-seat Alex Phillips. “But that doesn’t make it any easier or harder. We’re going to have tough races all around.”

The Crimson can expect another tough challenge from the Midshipmen, whose first varsity claimed the Sprints and IRA national titles last spring. In last year’s Sprints race, the No. 1 Navy varsity bested No. 2 Harvard by just over two seconds, ruining Harvard’s try for its first sprints title since 1997.

Both Navy varsity boats enter the weekend No. 2 to Harvard’s No. 1, their only losses coming to the Crimson in an Apr. 23 dual race. The Crimson first varsity must also contend with a Georgetown crew responsible for Harvard’s only defeat of the season, a 1.5 second loss in the opening weekend of dual competition.

“Our team is chomping at the bit because we know it’s going to be a really close race,” Kummer said. “And as far as predictions go, you can hypothesize all day long.”

In both varsity races, Harvard is near the top of every hypothesized list of finishers. The Crimson has overcome considerable deficits against quality dual-competition throughout the season, relying upon a powerful middle 1,000 meters to erase any deficit off of the start. The second varsity overcame near boat-length deficits against Navy and Princeton. The first varsity powered through Yale after yielding four seats in the race’s first 1,000 meters.

Throughout the dual season, crews have looked to shake the Crimson off of the start, and a six-boat setup on Sunday guarantees a furious first 20 strokes for the early advantage. Navy almost always jumps out early, Princeton and Yale pulled ahead of the Harvard boats off of the start, and Georgetown took the early lead from Harvard in the first varsity’s dual race with the Hoyas.

But with Sprints races sometimes decided by a bow ball, Harvard’s experience against a deficit should serve both crews well.

“Even if we’re down at the one thousand,” Schellhorn said, “we’ve come back from big margins there before.”

“When you’re down, you have to maintain confidence,” said junior varsity stroke Dan Reid, “or else that’s just not good racing.”

Harvard can be confident going into Sunday’s races—but not too confident. A stellar dual-season record has put the lightweights in an enviable position.

There are, however, 2,000 important meters separating the varsity from a Sprints title that has eluded them for eight seasons.

And two thousand more meters lie between the second varsity and a second consecutive undefeated season capped with a Sprints crown.

Six minutes—probably less—to eradicate an eight-year drought. Six minutes to another title for the second varsity.

“The heavies have led the way with some incredible results over the last couple of years,” Reid said. “If we could contribute to that, we would make Newell Boathouse proud.”

Six minutes to prove that the target is right where it belongs—and there to stay.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.