The Harvard men’s lightweight rowing team advanced all three of its boats to their respective finals at the IRA National Championship Regatta on Lake Natoma, according to a May 29 recap. The varsity eight won its heat, securing a spot in Sunday’s A Final.
In the morning session, Harvard’s junior varsity competed in the second heat against Princeton, Dartmouth, and Columbia. Princeton led from start to finish, but Harvard narrowed the gap from 1.1 seconds at the 1500-meter mark to just .45 seconds by the end. The crew finished second with a time of 5:53.840 and will race in Sunday’s A Final at 1:12 p.m. Eastern Time.
The defending champion varsity boat, stroked by captain Ben Lundie, won its heat wire-to-wire despite pressure from Penn. The varsity eight posted a time of 5:44.610 and finished nearly six seconds ahead of Penn to advance directly to Sunday’s A Final at 2:34 p.m.
Harvard’s varsity four progressed through both a morning time trial and an evening semifinal on Thursday. The crew placed second behind Penn with a time of 6:32.830 and will compete in Saturday’s A Final at 2:12 p.m.
Lineups for each boat were also announced following Thursday’s racing sessions, listing coxswains Nathalie Gregg (varsity eight), Haley Hicks (junior varsity), and Ericka Lai (varsity four) along with rowers for each shell.
