It was another weekend of dominant racing for Harvard men’s heavyweight and lightweight crew.
While the heavyweights swept all five races against Northeastern, including the varsity eight’s Smith Cup victory, the lightweights topped Yale and Princeton, earning a varsity eight and team win to capture the Goldthwait Cup and Vogel Cup, respectively.
HEAVYWEIGHTS vs. NORTHEASTERN
The strong headwinds on Saturday morning added another obstacle to the racing course on the Charles. But Harvard heavyweights handled the difficult conditions well enough to topple Northeastern in each race of the morning.
In the 1V race, the Crimson finished in 6:21.2, 3.4 seconds ahead of the Huskies. Harvard got out in front early on, holding a six-seat lead over Northeastern at the 500-meter mark, but the Huskies continued to push the Crimson throughout the duration of the race. Despite the pressure, Harvard was able to respond and finished just shy of an open water victory.
The win gave Harvard its 15th straight Smith Cup victory and extended the boat’s undefeated record in the dual season.
“We had very tough conditions, but we definitely didn’t handle them as well as we could have,” said captain Michael DiSanto, seven seat of the first varsity boat. “Part of the sport is being able to handle anything that comes your way…. We are going to need to row a lot better.”
Despite the victory, DiSanto was far from pleased with his boat’s performance and did not view the challenging conditions as a valid excuse for the poor quality of rowing.
“I would almost say we lost because of how badly we rowed,” DiSanto said.
While Northeastern was able to maintain overlap with the Harvard 1V, the Crimson secured open water over the Huskies’ in the second varsity and freshman eight races. The second varsity boat recorded the biggest eights win over Northeastern on Saturday, as the crew took the lead early and finished the race in 6:26.2, 15.1 seconds ahead of the Huskies.
The Harvard first freshman eight also defeated Northeastern by a solid margin of six seconds. The second freshman boat raced as two fours, with the Crimson A four outpacing the Huskies by 22.8 seconds.
The third and fourth varsity eights also had solid showings, defeating Boston University’s third varsity eight with times of 6:36.1 and 6:46.9, respectively. The Terriers came in 2.1 seconds after the 4V.
Despite any frustration, it was overall a successful weekend on the Charles for Harvard. Now, the Crimson now readies itself for the EARC Sprints in two weeks in Worcester.
“I wish we had a better row, but it was nice to win at least,” DiSanto said. “Our focus is on Worcester.”
NO. 1 LIGHTWEIGHTS vs. YALE, PRINCETON
Read more in Sports
Baseball Splits Year’s Final Two MatchupsRecommended Articles
-
Harvard Outlasts Northeastern, Sweeps Boston Teams
-
NOTEBOOK: Crimson Charges Back in ShootoutThe Harvard women’s hockey team has become accustomed to collecting wins in the Beanpot semifinals—in fact, it’s done so in the last four seasons. But no previous win was quite like this one.
-
Crimson Wins in Overtime Classic
-
Ready, Set, Goal!
-
Men's Soccer Falls to Northeastern, 1-0
-
Clark's 28 Points Lift Women's Basketball Over NortheasternA sense of déjà vu swept over the Crimson bench. A large lead was once again disappearing, as the team’s cross-town rival began to storm back with an improbable comeback.