Men's Crew Competes At EARC Eastern Sprints
May 19, 2002 | Heavyweight Rowing
May 19, 2002
WORCESTER, MA - Men's crew had nine boats in action on Sunday at the EARC Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. The varsity heavyweight men placed third behind upset-winner Wisconsin and Harvard, and the varsity lightweight men placed second behind Yale.
The Princeton heavyweights entered the day seeded fourth behind Harvard, Northeastern, and Wisconsin in the EARC heavyweight poll. The Wisconsin Badgers, having been defeated only by Western powers California and Washington by slim margins, flexed their muscles and hung tough in the second thousand meters to stay ahead of Harvard and win in 5:36.6. Princeton sprinted through Northeastern into third place in the last 500 meters to earn a trip to the medals dock. The Tigers stroked to a 5:42.7, ahead of Northeastern's 5:43.1.
The lightweight eight rowed to the starting line ranked third behind Yale and Navy, but flashed some new-found speed in the heats by defeating Navy. In the final, Yale used a good start to pull away and held onto the lead over the final 1500 meters, winning for the second straight year with a time of 5:52.1. Princeton finished second, again edging the Midshipmen, in 5:55.7. But Cornell squeeked into the 3-seat margin between the Tigers and Midshipmen to steal third place in 5:56.5, .1 seconds ahead of Navy. The second varsity heavyweights (5:49.1) rowed well but finished out of the medals behind a strong leading field of three deep teams; Harvard (5:41.3), Cornell, and Wisconsin. The third varsity heavyweights also finished fourth, behind the same three schools.
Aside from the varsity heavyweight eight, the other surprising result was in the freshman eight. Princeton was the top seed, but found themselves chasing a fast field after a mishap in the starting strokes. Harvard won, followed by Brown, Yale, and Princeton, despite the Tigers' regular season victories over each crew.
The second varsity lightweights (6:00.8) had a rough first thousand, but used a strong sprint to salvage a solid performance and win bronze medals. Navy won the race, defeating Yale in a time of 5:55.3. The third varsity lightweights rowed as the top seed, but were knocked off by Yale. The Tiger frosh lights finished fourth in an exciting final behind Yale, Navy, and Cornell. Cornell was coached by Princeton rower Eric Kratochvil '01, who led the Big Red freshmen to a successful season.
Harvard won the Rowe Cup, the heavyweight points trophy, while Yale defended its title and retained the Jope Cup, the lightweight points trophy.
For Complete Results, please click here