No. 1 Navy Clips M. Lights at Wire

Headed into the 38th running of the Haines Cup on Saturday, the Harvard and Navy men’s lightweight crews were separated in the polls by just one first-place vote, two total points.

The difference when the regatta’s final stroke broke the water proved equally razor-thin, but oh so much more meaningful than those preliminary armchair estimates as the No. 1 Midshipmen capped their comeback push with a 1.1-second victory over the No. 2 Crimson, while No. 12 Boston College finished a distant third.

Though Harvard now holds a 34-4 edge in the race’s history, the victory is Navy’s third Haines win in as many seasons.

The Crimson appeared on its way to a 35th title as the two lead boats glided past the midway marker. With its base cadence measuring between 35 and 36 strokes per minute, Harvard’s first varsity had erased a small deficit incurred off the start by the 500-meter mark and appeared to have solidly positioned itself to fend off the inevitable late Midshipmen charge.

“Off the start, they took about four seats when we were still in the high strokes—getting the boat going in the first 20 strokes,” said junior seven-seat Mike Kummer. “When we settled down in the base cadence we walked back through them.”

At the race’s midway point, the Crimson boat led by approximately two seconds, an advantage that was maintained even as Navy’s coxswain called for an early sprint in an attempt to cut into the Harvard lead. But despite upping their own output from 37 strokes per minute, the Midshipmen could gain no water on the Crimson, even losing an additional seat in the process.“From 200 meters to about 1,300 down, we walked up about a length on them,” said junior five-seat Trent Hudson. “And then they started their sprint.”

And when that final push came, there would be no stopping it.

Regaining composure after the earlier flop, the Midshipmen redoubled their efforts with 700 meters to go and in just 200 meters erased several seats of the one-length gap.

“We allowed ourselves to let them back into the race,” Kummer said. “That being said, they were always in the race. They were driving hard. They’re tough as heck. That’s why they’re in the Naval Academy.”

Senior coxswain Dave Kang called for a sprint to counter with 500 meters to go, but the momentum had abandoned the Crimson’s oars and the Harvard rowers could do nothing to stop as their opponents stroked right on by.

“We didn’t respond at all and, if we did, it wasn’t concerted,” Kummer said. “It was very flustered.”

Unable to improve significantly upon its base pace, the Crimson slipped from two seconds ahead to just over one behind at the finish, falling short of the nation’s top spot by a mere five feet. Last season’s contest was even tighter, when the Midshipmen caught Harvard from behind with 10 strokes to go, eking out a 0.46-second victory. In both cases, the Crimson, its seasons still in relatively nascent stages, cited the lack of sprint practice as the cause of the downfall.

“The same thing happened last year, largely for the same reasons,” Kummer said. “They’re not going to roll over and die.”

Harvard rebounded with a victory over the Golden Eagles, No. 5 Georgetown and No. 11 Delaware yesterday, but official results were not available at press time.

MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHTS

The No. 1 men’s heavyweight crew handily defeated its opponents for the third straight weekend on Saturday, besting No. 6 Navy by 8.5 seconds and No. 17 UPenn by 20.8 to earn its fifth consecutive Adams Cup. The regatta was the 69th running of the event.

Though the Midshipmen held their own for the first three-eighths of the race, the Crimson punished their opponents heading into the midway point. After failing to achieve separation through 750 meters, Harvard had open established open water through 1,000 and coasted to the nearly nine-second lead, never allowing the Navy boat to creep back into contention.

The Crimson swept all five races contended on the day and next rows against crosstown rival No. 4 Northeastern next Saturday to close its duals season.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.