The Harvard men’s heavyweight rowing team competed in the IRA National Championships this weekend, securing medals in the 2V and 3V races and a third-place overall team finish.
The team began its chase of an IRA national title on Friday with heats for the 1V, 2V, and 3V boats.
The varsity boat, coxed by sophomore Natalia Toms and stroked by captain Ben Scott, kicked off the action, taking on boats from Northeastern, Boston University, Wisconsin, Holy Cross, and MIT.
The varsity boat returned four of its oarsmen from last year’s second-place team, including Scott.
Harvard looked comfortable in the early morning race, as head coach Charley Butt’s top boat won its heat by nearly three seconds.
For most of the season, the Crimson’s 2V and 3V have been the star boats for Harvard, but the top boat’s recent win at Eastern Sprints showed how well the team had prepared for the final few races of the season.
The racing on Lake Natoma in California continued with heats for the 2V, coxed by senior Iris Hennin and stroked by senior Tyler Horler, where the Crimson faced off against boats from Northeastern, Penn, Holy Cross, Navy, and Oregon State. The 2V, which also finished in second place at last year’s IRAs, had a tighter margin than the varsity boat, but still earned a victory by just over a second and a half.
This race was an attempt for the 2V to redeem itself after a very close defeat last week at the Eastern Sprints, where the crew lost to a fast Princeton boat.
Harvard’s 3V, coxed by freshman Cate Frerichs and stroked by sophomore Marco Vicino, closed the day for the eight-man boats, when the Crimson took on Brown, Yale, Columbia, Oregon State, and La Salle.
The 3V won its heat comfortably, by nearly three seconds, despite the competitive field.
For most of the season, Harvard’s 3V looked like the team’s strongest boat, but suffered its first defeat last week at Eastern Sprints by just half a second. The boat strived to recover from that defeat this weekend and defend its championship from last season.
While the Crimson won all three early stages of the eight-man races, it came second by just under a second in the four-man semifinal, coxed by sophomore Nicholas Yoo, after a successful timed trial earlier in the day.
On Sunday, the Crimson’s three eight-man boats all competed in championship races.
In the final, the 3V faced tough competition from Washington, Princeton, California, Brown, and Yale. Harvard’s boat finished second, narrowly losing to the Huskies by under a second. The silver medal capped off a successful season for the 3V boat, filled with much silverware.
The 2V faced a similar array of schools to the 3V, with the only difference being Syracuse in the race instead of Yale. Princeton got off to a blazing start in the 2V, while Washington and Harvard trailed right behind. The Tigers opened an early three-seat lead.
The Huskies made a rapid comeback towards the end of the race and looked as if they might win, but ultimately fell short of the Princeton boat. The Tigers won the race by nearly a second while Washington finished less than a second ahead of the third-place Crimson boat, which took home a bronze medal.
In the varsity race, Harvard’s top boat faced off against boats from Washington, the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Stanford. The Tigers, once again, got off to a swift start and took a deck lead early, but had to hold off the threat from the top-ranked Huskies. The Crimson narrowed the margin against the top four boats, while Dartmouth and Stanford lagged far behind.
At the midpoint of the race, Harvard, Princeton, Washington, and Cal formed a decisive top four. The Golden Bears and Huskies — the top-ranked boats in the country — faced a showdown finish as Cal surged towards the end, but Washington was ultimately too much for the Golden Bears to overcome. Harvard finished in fourth place, just missing out on medal contention. As a team, the Crimson finished third, behind the Huskies and Princeton.
Despite the top boat missing out on a medal this weekend, the regatta still marks a strong close to the season for Harvard against a tough field.
This article is in progress and will be updated.
—Staff writer Asher M. Meron can be reached at [email protected].