Folks …
Folks …
"We did a good job today and it was a nice stepping stone toward the Eastern Sprints in a couple weeks," said Navy head coach Steve Perry. "Last weekend against Harvard, I thought we had a good row and we were good today as well."
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Navy's second varsity crew was equally impressive turning in a time of 5:58.6, easily topping Penn, which recorded a 6:15.3.
Penn picked up a win in the first freshman race as its time of 6:07.4 was better than both Navy boats in competition. Navy's first Plebe boat clocked a 6:15.8 and its second Plebe crew crossed the finish line in 6:28.4.
Navy's third varsity crew made it a clean sweep on the day for the Mids' varsity boats as it topped the field with a time of 6:02.4.
"Today puts us in a good spot heading into the Eastern Sprints," said Perry. "We're excited to see how the rest of the league does this weekend, but our main focus now is the Eastern Sprints and that's what we are training for."
Yale LWs
With victories over Yale and Princeton in the varsity and second varsity eight this morning on the Charles River, Harvard retained the Goldthwait and Vogel Cups for the second straight year. Three other Yale crews, however, won their races, with the first freshman, third varsity, and fourth varsity/second freshman eights defeating their Crimson and Tiger rivals.
The Crimson lightweights came away from this weekend’s Harvard-Yale-Princeton competition with all the hardware they could muster, as the No. 2 varsity eight took first over the Tigers by one second to claim Goldthwait Cup, and the squad earned the Vogel Cup as the overall team champion.
Harvard-Yale-Princeton never needs an introduction, but the rivalry takes on special significance when the schools are ranked first, second, and fourth in the country.
In lightweight dual racing, it simply doesn't get any bigger than this.
With the stakes the highest they've been all season, the Crimson lightweights delivered their best performance yet.
Yale started the day with a pair of dominating victories. In the day's first race, the Yale 4V/2F crossed the line in 6:38.2, defeating Princeton's 4V and Harvard's 2F by 9.5 and 13.2 seconds respectively. The Yale third varsity won the next race with a time of 6:18.6, pulling away from the field early. Harvard finished in 6:28.6 and Princeton in 6:35.2.
In the freshman eight, Princeton led for the majority of the race, with Yale trailing by nearly a length with 500 meters to go. The Bulldogs pulled through the Tigers rapidly in the last quarter of the race, however, passing Princeton just before the line and winning by .4 seconds in 6:14.7. Harvard finished in third in 6:22.2. The call went to the video finish replay, with the Bulldog Freesh taking the Cantab Yardlings by less than 2 feet in the most tightly contested race of the day.
Yale's second varsity eight fell behind early and never came back, finishing third in a time of 6:22.0. Harvard defeated a previously undefeated Princeton crew by 1.9 seconds, finishing in a time of 6:12.2.
In the varsity eight, Harvard captured the Goldthwait Cup for the second straight year and 42ND time overall with a one-second victory over Princeton, giving the Tigers their first loss of the year. Yale maintained contact for the majority of the race, finishing 4.8 seconds behind the Crimson in a time of 6:08.5. While Yale held a slim lead throughout much of the first half of the race, it was the Crimson that built its edge during the third 500 meters; from that point, Harvard spent the final 500 holding off a hard Tiger charge. Harvard got the job done and clinched the win in 6:03.7, while Princeton took second in 6:04.7. Yale placed third in 6:08.5, maintaining contact with the Tigers.
"It was a pretty brutal day," Crotty said afterwards. "I don't know if I've actually experienced a regatta when the top three races were so hotly contested. It really sets the stage for two weeks for now at the Eastern Sprints."
Harvard's two victories on the day propelled them to a Vogel Cup victory as well. Harvard finished with 36 points in the contest for overall team supremacy, while Princeton had 23 and Yale 21.
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As reported in the Harvard Crimson:
FIRST AND SECOND VARSITY EIGHTS
They say that third 500 meters is where races are won and lost.
Indeed, the Harvard 1V’s dominant third 500 sent it straight to the top of the nation.
The Tigers took a slight lead in the race’s early stages, but all three crews were fairly even in the first half of the race.
But all that changed when the Crimson crossed through the Mass. Ave Bridge.
“We made a really strong push in the third 500 that got us five or six seats,” Harvard’s pace proved too much for the Bulldogs to handle.
While Princeton was able to maintain overlap with the Crimson, it was never able to retake the seats it lost, and Harvard was able to survive a late Tiger surge to win by a one-second margin.
It was the second straight year in which the 1V has gone unbeaten in dual season.
This season, that spotlight was shared by the Crimson’s 2V, which has also won every race this season.
While it was Harvard’s second half that earned the boat the victory in the 1V race, the 2V made its biggest move in the middle 1000 meters of the race.
The Crimson reached the 500-meter mark around three seats behind Princeton, but managed to convert that into a three-seat lead on the Tigers by the 1000-meter mark. Harvard continued to move on the Tigers in the third 500, and by the time the boats reached the final push of the race, the Crimson’s lead was too much for Princeton to overcome, and Harvard earned a 1.9-second victory over the Tigers and a 9.8-second victory over Yale.
THIRD VARSITY EIGHT
While the Crimson 3V was unable to match the success of its 1V and 2V counterparts, its finish ahead of Princeton helped Harvard win the Vogel Trophy and the 3V better its own seeding for the Sprints.
The Bulldogs, clearly the fastest crew in the race, took an early and sizeable lead, leaving the Crimson and the Tigers to duke it out for second place.
Harvard had a slight lead over Princeton heading into the halfway mark and used a strong push in the third 500 to help it earn the second-place finish. Yale cruised to a 10-second victory and posted a time 3.4 seconds faster than its own 2V.
FRESHMAN EIGHTS
While the varsity rankings in the EARC polls are bound to change dramatically, the freshman seeding seems to be spot-on. In the 1F event, the crews finished in exactly the order they were seeded, with the top-seeded Bulldogs winning, the fourth-seeded Tigers in second, and the fifth-seeded Crimson in third.
"We're happy to bring the trophy home," said Navy head coach Rick Clothier. "Today was one of our best races of the year and maybe our most complete effort. It wasn't flawless, but it was good."
In the first varsity race, Navy got out to a solid lead in first 500 meters and was able to extend its advantage at the midway point of the race, before finishing with a time of 6:00.3. Columbia clocked a 6:03.5, while George Washington put up a 6:21.6.
"I was pleased with how we did early in the race," said Clothier. "We had some open water later on and were able to maintain through the finish."
Columbia's varsity heavyweight eight did just fine in the beginning of the race for the Maxwell Stevenson Cup, and almost as fine at the end. In the middle 1000, the Lions permitted Navy to take control, and ultimately to take the Cup back to Annapolis after three years in the Columbia boathouse.
Retaining the Cup in 2011 loomed as a formidable task. Boasting one of its best eights in years, Navy had been highly competitive this spring, while Columbia, after a good beginning, had rowed in rough waters, both figuratively and literally, during the past month. Still, head coach Mike Zimmer said, "I had hoped to do a little better today."
His good feelings lasted through the first the first 500 meters. Columbia was keeping up with Navy, and staying ahead of George Washington, rowing in the Stevenson Cup as a guest.
"I thought we could row bow-to-bow in the body of the race," Zimmer noted, "but Navy was very aggressive in the middle 1000, the body of the race, and we couldn't match that."
Navy pulled out to a sizable lead in the middle 1000, and never relinquished it. The Lions did threaten in the final 300 meters, though. "We didn't stop working," the coach said. "We got our bow into their stern." But the Midshipmen were able to pull away to a 3.3 second winning margin, 6:00.3 to the Lions' 6:03.3, with George Washington third in 6:21.3.
Navy's two freshman boats both started the day with wins. Navy's first Plebes posted a time of 6:22.1, ahead of second-place Columbia's 6:35.6. George Washington came in third with a time of 6:50.4.
In the second Plebe race, Navy defeated George Washington by nearly 32 seconds.
In the second varsity race, Navy's second varsity and fourth varsity boats took the top two spots, respectively. The Mids' second varsity crew finished in 6:16.9, followed by the fourth varsity which put up a time of 6:23.6.
Yale HWs — Did not race.
Navy Women –
The Navy women took first place in three events at the ECAC Mid-Atlantic/New England Regional Championships to win the overall point title and the Directors Cup. Navy won the varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four races, competing at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, N.J. on Sunday.
"It was a great day for Navy," said Navy head coach Mike Hughes. "It was just a fantastic job by everyone today. I'm proud of our whole team and it feels great to take home a championship."
The Mids claimed their first gold medal of the day in the varsity four event. A week after taking first place at the Patriot League Championships, Navy cruised to another win on Sunday. The Mids registered a time of 7:58.9, outpacing second-place Colgate by nearly 10 seconds.
Navy's `B' boat took fourth place with a time of 8:20.89.
In the second varsity eight race, Navy defeated George Washington for the gold medal. The Mids turned in a time of 7:10.52, topping second-place George Washington's time of 7:13.29.
After finishing third at last weekend's Patriot League Championships, Navy's varsity eight bounced back strong on Sunday as it took first place by significant margin. Navy clocked a 7:02.46, just over seconds faster than second-place Delaware. Colgate placed third with a time of 7:08.22.
In the first race of the day, the Mids' novice eight boat took third place with a time of 7:58.16.
Yale Women –
The sixth-ranked Brown women's crew retained the Nat & Anne Case Cup by winning four of five races over No. 8 Yale Saturday on the Housatonic River.
Brown's varsity eight edged Yale by a little over five seconds, 6:04.40 to 6:09.80.
The V8 boat started the day off with an impressive time, crossing the line in 6:04.60, for a five-second win over the Bulldogs. Brown's second varsity topped Yale as well, and actually posted a time three seconds faster than Yale's varsity.
The margin of victory was similar for the Bears in the second varsity. Brown crossed the line in 6:06.30, a little less than five seconds faster than the Bulldogs.
In the varsity four, Brown won by seven seconds, 6:50.40 to 6:57.40.
The Bears also were victorious in the third varsity eight. While the Bruno did have the fastest time in the V4B race, they missed a turning buoy and were disqualified.
Other results in EARC and EAWRC –
- MIT LWs vs. Delaware – on the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, the Blue Hens took 2 of 3 races from the Engineers [MIT won 2F]. In the 1V, Delaware defeated MIT by open-water [5:30.6 to 5:43.3]
- Penn LWs vs. MIT – doubling on the day back on the Schuylkill in Philadelphia, the Quakers took 3 of 4 races from the Engineers [MIT won 2F]. In the 1V, Penn defeated MIT by open-water [5:36.9 to 5:45.9]
- Cornell LWs vs. Dartmouth – on the Connecticut River in Hanover, the Big Red took 4 of 5 races from the Big Green. In the 1V, Dartmouth defeated Cornell by open-water [6:17.9 to 6:23.9] and captured the Baggaley Bowl.
- Harvard HWs vs. Northeastern – on the Charles River in Cambridge, the Cantab HW varsity remained undefeated on the season taking 2 [1V and 1F] of 3 races from the Huskies. In the 1V, Harvard defeated Northeastern by open-water [5:56.7 to 6:11.4] and captured the Charlie Smith Cup.
- Princeton HWs vs. Brown – on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, the Tiger HWs took 3 [1V, 2V and 1F] of 4 races from the Bruno. In the 1V, Princeton defeated Brown by 1/2 length [6:02.1 to 6:04.7] and captured the Content Cup.
- Wisconsin vs. Dartmouth HWs – on the Connecticut River in Hanover, Wisco swept all three from the Big Green. In the 1V, Wisco defeated Dartmouth by 1/2 length [4:37.76 to 4:39.26] in "historically strong current"! Wisco takes home the Cochrane Cup.
- Rutgers HWs vs. Holy Cross – on the Raritan River in New Brunswick, NJ, the Crusaders swept Rutgers winning 3 of 3. In the 1V Holy Cross led The Scarlet Knights by 3/4 of a length [5:48.5 to 5:51.3].
- Wisconsin vs. Boston University HWs – moving to the Charles River on Sunday Wisco took 2 of 3 from the Terriers [BU won the 1F]. In the 1V, Wisco defeated BU by a deck [5:44.7 to 5:45.0] in winning the Jablonic Cup.
- Navy – 1V [#8]; 2V [#4]; 1F [#5]; 3V [#6] and 2F [tied for #1 with BU]
- Yale – 1V [#9]; 2V [#9]; 1F [#12]; and 3V [#3]
- Yale – 1V [#4]; 2V [#3]; 3V [#3]; and V4+ [#3]
- Navy – 1V [#14]; 2V [#14]; 3V [#12]; and V4+ [#10]
Coach, TB406 and Layla GaGa