No. 2 Harvard Lightweights End 13-Year Drought at No. 3 Navy

Harvard's varsity eight faces No. 1 Princeton, the only other team to beat Navy, next week, along with No. 4 Yale.

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The second-ranked Harvard lightweight varsity eight won at Navy for the first time since 1997, defeating the No. 3 Midshipmen by 5.5 seconds Saturday morning on the Severn River to retain the Haines Cup and help Harvard win four of the day's five races.

Harvard (8-0) built its lead consistently throughout the varsity race and finished in 5:52.2 to overcome a strong home-course advantage created by supporters of the Midshipmen (4-2). The Crimson had lost on its last four visits to Annapolis, and the road team had not captured the Haines Cup since Navy did so in 2003. It was Harvard's 37th Haines Cup win.

“My hat's off to our guys,” said Harvard head coach Charley Butt. “They put pressure on their opponent every 500 meters. Racing at Navy and winning is very tough. Anybody who has rowed at Harvard in the last decade knows that this is a real feather in their cap.”

Three other Harvard boats outlasted their Navy opponents for victories. The second varsity eight won for the sixth time in as many races this season, finishing 4.1 seconds ahead in 5:59.7. The third varsity edged the Mids by just four-tenths of a second in the tightest finish of the day.

The Crimson freshman eight remained undefeated through eight races with a 2.6-second victory in 6:14.6. Navy's second freshmen topped Harvard's by nine seconds for the Mids' lone victory.

Varsity Eight
Harvard 5:52.2
Navy 5:57.7

Second Varsity Eight
Harvard 5:59.7
Navy 6:03.8

Third/Fourth Varsity Eights
Harvard 6:06.9
Navy 3V 6:07.3
Navy 4V 6:15.3

Freshman Eight
Harvard 6:14.6
Navy 6:17.2

Second Freshman Eight
Navy 6:24.7
Harvard 6:33.7
Navy 3FH 6:35.5

Harvard Lineups
Varsity Eight
Cox: Dexter Louie, 8: Tim Moore, 7: Austin Meyer, 6: Will Newell, 5: Martin Eiermann, 4: Billy Hennrikus, 3: Andrew Trott, 2: Jared Dourdeville, 1: James Stewart

Second Varsity Eight
Cox: Lizzy Maybank, 8: Tyler Caldwell, 7: Ben Bayley, 6: Tom Nesel, 5: Sean Duncan, 4: Michael Murray, 3: Benjamin Tuyp, 2: Andrew Corcoran, 1: Michael Silvestri

Third Varsity Eight
Cox: Angela Chang, 8: Jordan Cotton, 7: Gary Pellisier, 6: Matt Gibbons, 5: Christopher Oland, 4: Collin Rees, 3: Martin Wallner, 2: Joshua Foote, 1: Kevin Fiamingo

Freshman Eight
Cox: Paul Farber, 8: Florian Mayr, 7: Erich Schultze, 6: James Groeneveld, 5: Nicholas Gates, 4: Michael Paresky, 3: Tom Foley, 2: Matt O'Leary, 1: Alex Newell

Second Freshman Eight
Cox: Alex Saal, 8: Kevin Connolly, 7: Gabriel Lloyd, 6: Craig Herron, 5: Arturo Villanueva, 4: Francis Thumpasery, 3: AJ Carvalho, 2: Francisco Triana, 1: Simon Maas