The Harvard men’s and women’s heavyweight and lightweight crew teams opened the spring season this weekend, taking on Cornell, George Washington, Penn, Brown, and Georgetown. The men’s teams registered a win and a split, while the women’s heavyweight and lightweight teams lost and won, respectively.

Men’s Heavyweight Wins, Lightweight Splits

The No. 3 Harvard men’s heavyweight team hit the water bright and early for their home race against Cornell and George Washington.

“It felt great to get back in the swing of the racing season, especially with such a long winter,” senior lightweight Alexander Bonorris said. “We pretty much just began rowing again, so it is a bit of a shock being up at race pace, but we are picking it up quickly.”

The team continued its hot streak, winning three of the five races.

In the V8 race, Harvard finished first with a time of 6:02.50, almost four seconds ahead of Cornell, which came in at 6:06.30. The JV team had a closer win, edging out the Big Red by just over two seconds.

The freshman boat started out its season strong, dropping both GW and Cornell in open water. The freshmen finished in 6:21.30, and the nearest competitor, Cornell, finished over 14 seconds later, and GW rounding out the lot over 30 seconds behind the Crimson.

It was a windy day for racing for men’s lightweight team, which split against No. 8 Penn and No.1 Cornell this weekend. The team defeated No. 8 Penn and lost to No. 1 Cornell on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

The freshmen boats had the only wins of the day. The freshmen eight team won by a boat length, finishing at 6:01.40. Cornell came in just under six seconds later, and Penn finished eight seconds after Cornell.

The A and B teams won the freshmen 4+ race by open water, with the A team finishing in 7:06.1, and the B team coming in with a time of 7:24.4.

The first varsity team finished its race in the middle of the pack at 6:05.9, just over six seconds behind the Big Red and just under three seconds ahead of the Quakers. The JV team came in third place in its race, while the 3V team lost by open water, finishing 13.5 seconds behind Cornell.

Radcliffe Heavyweight Lose, Lightweight Win

The Radcliffe heavyweight team had a slower start to its season, falling to No. 3 Brown. Both teams had to deal with the rain and flat water with an incoming current on the Seekonk River in Providence, but the Bears bested the Crimson in all five races.

The varsity four race was the closest of the day, with the A boat finishing at 7:57.60, five seconds behind Brown. The V8 team also had a close race, finishing just seven seconds behind.

“I think the team raced the best race they could this past weekend,” freshman heavyweight Katherine Playfair said. “We all know that we have technical focuses, both individually and team-wide, that we need to improve on, and we have the time and determination to make those changes for the future.”

The lightweight team had a more successful start, extending its dual-race win streak to 18 and taking the Class of 2004 Cup in Washington, D.C. Both the V8 and JV teams overcame whitecaps, rollers and tail currents and winds in the Potomac River to best Georgetown’s first varsity team.

In the only race that was able to finish, the first varsity team won with a time of 6:53.30. The second varsity team finished exactly five seconds and one boat length later at 6:58.30, and Georgetown rounded out the three, finishing a little over five seconds later.

“Given the results from this past weekend, I find that our team is strong, but we have a long way to go to feel fully prepared for the Ivy Championships,” Playfair said.

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.