Harvard Smokes 'Em in the Sprints

The Harvard lights are on top again.

You can pull out all the cliches--it's not how you get there that counts, just that you get there first--and send this topsy-turvy season off to a Hollywood scriptwriter, but it is great just to be able to say again that the lights won the sprints. And now you may go back to sleep.

CREW

Rest assured that the J.V. won their sprint race for the twelfth straight year and that Harvard took home its tenth consecutive Jope Cup for best team performance.

And before you start dreaming about next year, sleep on this: The varsity and J.V. are undefeated.

The varsity dispatched Penn with a run at the 1000-meter mark. They had been fourth after a slow start, while Penn opened a lead on Navy and Princeton.

As the other crews settled in for the second half of the race, Harvard made its move and opened a length lead with 600 meters left. And rather than settle for that, Harvard began to put some open water between it and second-place Navy. Harvard crossed the finish in 6:19.5, followed by Navy (6:23.7) and Penn (6:25.0).

The J.V. edged Penn by half a second, finishing in 6:49.3, keeping its streak alive. Princeton finished third.

Yale's freshman boat beat Harvard by three seconds but the Crimson's second-place showing helped Harvard gain the overall trophy.

So dream on, Penn. Better luck next year and it had to end some time. I always had a weakness for cliches.