Cooper, Stoddard Win Rowing Titles

Harvard's Bill Cooper and Radcliffe's Kristi Stoddard won first place in the men's and women's collegiate divisions of the the world's largest indoor rowing competition Sunday afternoon.

Stoddard dominated the final race from the start, crossing the finish line in 8:49.3, a decisive eight seconds ahead of Northeastern's Christian Cook.

Stoddard's victory provided a rewarding reversal of last year's standings when she finished second to Cook in the finals.

Cooper, who also won the event last year, pursued a different racing strategy than Stoddard.

Saving his energy for the finish, Cooper bided his time, not making his move until the last 1000 meters of the race.

With 500 meters to go, Cooper put his erg in overdrive and started to close on the leaders, Dartmouth's Edward Murphy and Princeton's Wyman Morris.

Cooper nosed out Murphy and Morris at the finish to win his second consecutive championship.

He came in at 7:46.7 followed by Murphy, at 7:47.5 and Morris, at 7:48.1.

Harvard's Adam Holland finished fourth, with a 7:52.9.

Senior Captain Steve Trafton finished seventh out of a field of nine.

Cooper's title of collegiate champion needs an asterisk, however. Three rowers from Brown pulled fast enough times in the preliminary heat to qualify for the Men's Open Division finals (which any rower regardless of age is eligible for).

Cooper's first-round time was not fast enough to make it to the finals of this category.

Because the three Brown rowers competed in the Open Division, Cooper did not have to face them in the collegiate finals.