While the sun's rays glinted off the Charles River and the Biglin Bowl, a shadow of frustration hung over Newell Boathouse, as the Harvard varsity lightweight crew finished just .2 seconds behind MIT Saturday.
In 6:41.1, the Engineers dissolved 16 years of Crimson supremacy in the 2000-meter race, while Harvard followed closely at 6:41.3, dropping its season record to an unheard-of 0-2, and Dartmouth lagged behind in 6:46.
After falling behind about six seats at the halfway point, the Crimson team began to move on MIT when coxswain Greg Soghikian called for a power 20.
Nicks Off the Iceberg
Then, at the 1500-meter mark, stroke Courty Gates upped the cadence from 33 to 35, bringing the shell to within one and one-half seats of MIT with about 20 strokes left in the race.
However, as Harvard headed into its sprint, the bowman missed the coxswain's signals when static from an electronic failure in the "coxbox" drowned Soghikian's voice.
We normally take the cadence up to 39 at the end, but we didn't go above 35," Soghikian said. "We had a strong finish, but it wasn't good."
Despite the communication problem, coach Peter Raymond said he did not consider losing to MIT a fluke, especially because the aggressive Engineers lost to Yale's defending Eastern Sprints championship team by a mere .2 seconds last week.
Although this race marked the first time in recent history that a Harvard varsity lightweight crew has lost two contests in the regular season, several bright spots pierced through the gloom as the J.V. and freshman boats all triumphed.
The J.V. squad never received a challenge, as it pushed into open water by the settle and stayed there to cruise in in 6:33.2. Dartmouth finished 16.7 seconds behind, while MIT floundered a full 20 seconds off.
The first freshman boat also set a strong pace at the start, taking a half-boat lead at the settle. At the 750 mark, coxswain T. Parker Gallagher cried for a power ten, which put the Crimson in clear water and out of the reach of Dartmouth--which finished two and one-half boats behind the winning 6:54
Only three seconds off the first freshman boat's pace, the second freshman crew won its race in 6:57.9, besting the field by ten seconds.
Read more in News
Pool, Study, Records, Archives, PublicationRecommended Articles
-
Cautious Lights TriumphThe Radcliffe varsity lightweights regained their winning form Saturday on the Charles, overpowering a mediocre MIT crew in a strong
-
'Cliffe Heavy weights Rout B.U., MITThe Radcliffe heavyweight crew settled the question of who's queen of the Charles by trouncing Boston University and MIT by
-
B. A. A. Cross Country Run.The B. A. A. held a very successful handicap run from the house to Corey Hill and return, Saturday. The
-
M. Lights Cruise to Eighth Biglin Bowl in Nine Years With Sweep of Dartmouth, MITLast year it was uncertainty that dominated the men’s lightweight rowing scene, as crews upset higher-ranked opponents, assumed their position
-
Cornell Easy Victor in Boat RaceCornell won an easy victory over Princeton and Yale in the triangular race for eight-oar crews held on Carnegie Lake
-
COMPARATIVE TIMES SHOW CRIMSON AND BLUE EVENLight work-outs were the rule today for both University and Freshman crews in the morning and afternoon. The only feature