Men's Lightweight Crew Grabs Win at Princeton

At the Princeton Three-Mile Chase on Sunday, Harvard Men’s Lightweight Crew gained an important win after falling to Princeton in the lightweight varsity eight race at the Head of the Charles Regatta the previous weekend.

For the third year in a row, the varsity lightweight four won its race. This year the first varsity four boat was manned by coxswain Shane Bouchard, junior Andrew Campbell, sophomore Samuel Frum, freshman Jack Kelly, and stroke Alexander Bonorris. The boat finished the race in 14:40.194, a full nine seconds ahead of the runner up, Yale.

The win brings reassurance to a team in transition. The Crimson has brought on a new coach and a core of young players to the team. Coach Michiel Bartman had previously coached the Radcliffe women’s lightweight team before being called upon by the Harvard lightweights to fill their coaching void.

“That was a good event for the team today,” captain Alexander Bonorris said. “I think that breaking down into fours is helpful because we were pleased with that result for sure. We were racing against both Yale and Princeton who have very good lightweight crews so we are pleased to have beaten them.”

Harvard’s second varsity four boat finished 15th with a time of 15:57.656. The Crimson’s third and fourth varsity four boats placed 19th and 20th respectively, finishing less than a second apart. Their respective times were 16:04.338 and 16:04.955.

“I think where we’re at right now sets us up for a really good winter training session that will in turn set us up for success in the spring,” Bonorrois said. “We’re hungry for more competition in the days, weeks, and months to come.”

The lightweight men’s eights did not encounter the same success as the lightweight fours, with none of the three boats entered in the race finishing in the top ten for the first time in three years. The fastest boat for Harvard was the second varsity eight boat, which finished the race in 14:06.074.

The race for the second varsity eights started out on a straight course with minimal wind, which allowed the boat to push forward, but as it turned the corner and entered the second part of the race the winds picked up, forcing the team to rely on technical rowing to get them to the finish.

“Everybody pulled hard at the beginning and then pushed through the finish,” junior Robert Hawthorne said. “In long races it is really important to make sure you keep your head about you the entire time. It’s a rewarding race because you finish at the boathouse where you have everybody cheering for you.”

The first varsity eight boat, which is rowing with only two returning members after six of last year’s eight graduated, suffered a penalty during the race that added a minute to its finishing time. Originally the team finished the race in 13:48.196, but because of the penalty the crew ended up in 21st place with an official time of 14:48.196.

“The most important thing is to get guys into boats to get them experience so we have the best spring season that we can have,” Hawthorne said.

The third varsity eights boat finished ahead of the first boat, placing 19th with a time of 14:33.229.

“There are always expectations going into a race…and we had some results that we weren’t necessarily satisfied with, but we want to emphasize that this is the fall season,” Bonorris said. “We’re in a constant build coming out of the fall… we have good momentum.”

The two lightweight freshman boats that were entered in the race placed ninth and 28th among their competition. The first freshman boat finished with a time of 14:25.460, while the second freshman boat finished in 17:16.231.

But for a young team, this weekend’s showing is just another step toward becoming a competitive force in the spring.

“We have to start storing up excitement for the entire program,” Bonorris said. “It’s about the team rising up and improving all together, which is something that takes a lot of work, patience, and persistence, which is something that we have and something we’re looking forward to as a team.”