Men's Lightweights Take Easterns

WORCESTER--With consistent pressure throughout and a strong sprint, the Harvard men's varsity lightweight crew held off Yale to win its 23rd Eastern Sprints championship last Saturday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

Unfortunately, the heavyweights were not able to complete the double, as they finished fourth behind Princeton, Yale and Brown.

The topseeded lightweights posted an impressive time of 5:55.2, 3.6 seconds ahead of third seeded Yale, and a full seven seconds ahead of the defending Sprints and National Champions--Princeton.

Harvard eased its way to a second place finish in its preliminary heat, trying to conserve itself for the afternoon's all important grand finale.

Princeton came into the race seeded second, but like the rest of the six crew field, it quickly fell off the blistering pace set by Harvard and Yale.

These two crews came off the line together and stayed close through the first 1000 meters of the 2000 meter race. Yale applied pressure early, but Harvard was up to the challenge, answering the Eli moves with consistent, strong strokes.

The crews exchanged slim leads, but were still dead even after 1250 meters. At this mark, both boats raised their cadences. As the stroke rate climbed, the Crimson began to move on the Elis.

When Harvard moved, Yale struggled. With 500 meters left, the Crimson again increased the cadence to open up a boatlength lead on the now exhausted Elis. As the crews sprinted past the crowded grandstand, Harvard held on to top Yale by just over one length.

"It is the biggest win of my life," sophomore James Lenhart said. "It feels great to be part of the Harvard tradition and the 23 Sprints Championships."

The win was also the fifth for head coach Charlie Butt.

"Winning for Charlie was awesome as well, because he believed in us, and no one wanted to let him down," junior Jonathan Kibera said.

The only negative for the lightweights on the weekend, was that they finished fourth in the competition for the Jope Cup, awarded to the best overall lightweight performance; varsity, junior varsity and freshman.

Yale brought home this prestigious trophy, as the Elis won both the JV and freshman races. Harvard's JV boat finished sixth, and the freshman came in ninth.

The varsity's win over Yale and Princeton was its second in three weeks. These three crews should lead the field at the IRA Championships, May 29-31, on the Cooper river in Camden, NJ.

At last year's IRAs, the Lightweight National Championship, Harvard finished a scant four inches behind Princeton.

"For IRAs we need to continue to do what we've done all year--get faster," sophomore Thomas Fallows said.

"We will be training against the heavyweights, improving our technique and raising the cadence even higher," added Kibera.

The Harvard men's heavyweights rowed well, but were never really in contention as they finished six seconds off the pace.

Princeton edged Yale for the victory, with Brown claiming third place.

However, Harvard did defeat two strong crews from Wisconsin and Northeastern.

The heavyweight's junior varsity finished sixth, while the freshman rowed to a strong fourth place finish.

The heavyweights will next race in the 132nd annual Harvard-Yale regatta on June 1st.