Both the men’s and women’s crew teams were back in action this weekend, taking on some of the top teams in the nation. Facing below-average temperatures and windy conditions, the Harvard teams were able to walk away with various victories as they look to build momentum for the home stretches of their seasons.

Men’s Heavyweights

The No. 6 heavyweight team traveled to Providence, R.I. for the Stein Cup. The team edged out No. 5 Brown to take home the championship for the sixth straight year.

All of the races, except for the fifth varsity four race, were won by three seconds or less. In the V8 race, the Crimson, which finished at 5:35.8, edged out the Bears by just two seats. The second varsity eight boat also won, edging out Brown by three seconds.

The Crimson only lost two races, the third varsity and fifth varsity four races, dropping the former by 0.9 seconds. With the overall win, Harvard extends its series lead over Brown to 43-9.

Men’s Lightweights

The No. 5 men’s lightweight team had a full weekend, facing Cornell, Penn, and Georgetown in its season opener.

A week after its heavyweight teammates made the trip, the lightweight team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., for its races against No. 2 Cornell and No. 6 Penn. The race had an early start, for impending weather conditions on Saturday forced the race to take place Friday evening.

Penn, after having the best finish in a decade in its races last weekend, and Cornell, the two-time national champions which hadn’t lost a race in two years, were ready to chip away at the Crimson’s all-time series lead against the two teams.

Harvard maintained its series lead with a split—a win against Penn and a loss against Cornell. The first and second varsity races were close, and came down to the very end of the course. In the V8 race, Harvard was half a boat behind Cornell, and just one second ahead of Penn. The Big Red, which has won the last two races against its Ivy rivals, finished at 5:51.2, the Crimson at 5:54.3, and the Quakers at 5:55.6.

The second varsity also fell to Cornell by three seconds, though it won against Penn by a wider margin. The third, fourth, and fifth varsity races were not as close as the first two, but all ended with the Crimson capturing second place.

“We’re just keep tinkering, trying to find those extra seconds, and just keep our nose to the grindstone and try to make a good run until we see Cornell again at the Eastern Sprints,” co-captain Sam Frum said.

The team returned to the Charles for its Sunday race against Georgetown. It was a bittersweet race for the seniors, who were rowing in their last home race this weekend. Inspired by its senior leaders, the team pushed through a strong headwind and low temperatures to sweep the Hoyas. In all five races, Harvard won in open water.

“We’ve got a lot of experience in our first varsity boat and a lot of youth below that so I think it was really good for the freshmen to really get their first taste of dual racing in the Ivy League,” Frum said. “It’s fierce, it’s competitive, and it’s a whole lot of fun.”

At the end of the race, the team honored its seniors, who gave words of advice to the rest of the team, and held a naming ceremony for a new boat that they had just received.