Men's and Women's Crew Teams Wrap Up Season with Wins

­As the weather heated up, so did the Harvard men’s and women’s crew teams as they wrapped up the regular season this weekend, all of them taking home hardware. The men’s heavyweight team’s last race was at home on Saturday against crosstown rival Northeastern, while the women’s teams competed in the Eastern Sprints Championships.

RADCLIFFE HEAVYWEIGHT AND LIGHTWEIGHT CREW

The No. 14 heavyweight and No. 3 lightweight teams dominated the Cooper River, with both taking took first place at the Eastern Sprints.

This is the first time in 12 years that the heavyweight team took home the title, and the group did so by sweeping all six grand finals. The varsity eight boat set the tone for the day, securing an open water win over Columbia and Dartmouth.

The Black and White, coxed by senior Jenny Wong and stroked by senior Lizzy Fitzhenry, crossed the finish line with a time of 6:20.75. Columbia and Dartmouth came in about 11 seconds later at 6:31.5 and 6:31.9, respectively. The last boat in the race, Navy, finished over 20 seconds behind Radcliffe, stopping the clock at 6:45.6.

The JV and third varsity teams also had open water wins, with the JV boat by almost 12 seconds over Northeastern, and the 3V boat by 11 seconds over Dartmouth.

The varsity four A and B races were won by closer margins, with the A boat’s race being the closest of the day. Radcliffe won over Columbia by just one second.

The B finished with a time of 7:33.3, eight seconds ahead of Dartmouth, and the C boat won over Boston University by open water.

“The team did awesome,” junior heavyweight Lauren Tracey said. “I know every single boat worked really hard for their win, and sweeping this regatta just proves how deep our team is.”

The lightweights took the Konrad Ulbrich Trophy for the third straight year—the first time in the program history in which the team has won this competition three consecutive times.

The varsity eight, led by junior coxswain Samantha Guhan and senior stroke Adelaide Backer, won over the Terriers by half a boat length. The Radcliffe boat pulled away before hitting the 1,000 meter mark and did not give up its lead. It finished at 6:36.267 with the Terriers at 6:39.183.

The Black and White took second place in all of the other events. Boston University came back for the second varsity race, finishing just under five seconds before the Radcliffe boat, which came in at 6:47.447.

The varsity four boat took second by the same margin as the JV boat, but in this race, behind Wisconsin. The novice four lost by open water to Wisconsin.

MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT CREW

On the Charles, the No. 5 men’s heavyweight team bested No. 7 Northeastern for the 18th straight year to win the Smith Cup.

“We were coming off a strong team showing in Annapolis,” senior coxswain Jack Smith said. “We had confidence in our team depth from that outing, but we always anticipate Northeastern to be fast, so we took the week’s preparation very seriously and knew it would take exceptional racing from all of us to succeed.”

The first varsity boat took home the Cup with a two-second win over the Huskies. The group finished at 5:40.71, and Northeastern at 5:42.97.

The JV and first freshman teams both fell to Northeastern, coming in a second apart from each other at 5:48.28 and 5:49.49, respectively. Northeastern was over three seconds ahead of the second varsity team, finishing at 5:45.81.

The varsity four A and B teams were behind the first place boat, Boston University’s 4V A boat, by open water, and the 3V and 2F teams came in first and third, respectively, in their race.

“We will continue what we have been excellent at all season—challenging each other in practice to such a degree that no man is allowed to become complacent,” Smith said.

—Staff writer Katherine H. Scott can be reached at katherinescott@college.harvard.edu.