Harvard Crews Out-Sprinted at Easterns

The 43rd edition of the Eastern Sprints saw the fastest lightweight racing in the history of the Lake Quinsigamond regatta, with new records established in each of the day's three races.

Harvard's lightweight JV rowed brilliantly in the strong quartering tailwind, shattering the previous record--set by Yale in 1982--by over three seconds.

Unfortunately, the JV victory was the only win for Harvard on Sunday. Both the varsity and freshman crews finished just out of the money, in fourth position.

Yale claimed the varsity race, but Princeton took home the Jope Cup, symbolic of the best overall lightweight performance, with a win in the freshman contest and second-place showings in each of the other two races. The Jope trophy has now been hefted by the Princeton oarsmen for a remarkable five years in a row.

In the tight varsity contest, the favored Yale crew earned a narrow early margin over the closely matched competition, and withstood strong challenges from both Harvard and Princeton on the way to a two-second victory over the Tigers.

Rutgers nipped Harvard for third place with a time of 5:53.1, to the Crimson's 5:53.4. The top four finishers were separated by a mere 3.3 seconds.

It's been a heady year for the Eli 150's, who have yet to finish behind another crew.

The '87 campaign was somewhat less successful for Harvard, which hasn't won at the Sprints since 1982, but second-year Crimson Coach Charley Butt thought yesterday's results showed that his lights are on the way back. "We were in the race the whole way," Butt said. "Since '83 we've been six to eight seconds back, but today we were one of four crews within a few seconds of each other."

Crimson coxswain Marty Katz was also pleased with the inexperienced Harvard crew's performance. "Obviously, it's a little disappointing to finish fourth, but we had a good solid race, something we hadn't had yet," Katz said.

Harvard's junior varsity was more than solid. The Crimson shell dueled with Princeton for 1200 meters, trading narrow leads several times before breaking the Tigers spirit, sprinting away to a three-second victory. The winning time was 6:00.1.

The crucial moment in the race came at 1000 meters, when the Crimson eight withstood Princeton's customary drive before answering with a much more effective power move of its own.

"Wasn't that beautiful?" Butt asked. "We just executed our plan and stayed with it. The other crews were obviously just trying to stay with us."

The win was Harvard's 22nd lightweight second-varsity victory at Sprints, more than any other E.A.R.C. competitor. the JV 150's end the season as Harvard's only undefeated crew.

In the freshman contest, the Crimson oarsmen were overstroked by their competitors for the first half of the race, and never worked their way up from fourth position.

Princeton sprinted away from Rutgers (6:05.8) to win for the second straight year in a record 6:01.5, and an unusually strong Navy frosh eight took the bronze in 6:09.3. The Yardlings followed in 6:11.1.

Princeton did an awesome job" Crimson frosh Coach Block Meitzen said. "they left no doubt."

THE NOTEBOOK: On Saturday evening, Harvard's third varsity raced to a third-place finish behind Princeton and Rutgers while the second freshmen won the title.