Men's Crew Finishes Third in Team Points at Sprints, Varsity and 3V Earn Bronze Medals

Sunday, May 15

Brown University

Eastern Sprints

Men's Crew Finishes Third in Team Points at Sprints, Varsity and 3V Earn Bronze Medals

5/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Crew

WORCESTER, Mass. – Brown men's crew earned a pair of bronze medals, including a thrilling comeback in the varsity eight grand final, as the Bears claimed third place at EARC Eastern Sprints Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond.

The EARC Sprints is made up of the top rowing schools in the East and also determines the Ivy League Championship. Yale won the varsity eight to repeat as the Ivy champion, while Brown finished third in the Rowe Cup standings for the second straight year, awarded to the school with the highest number of total points. Brown sent all four boats to the grand finals.

"It was a big moment for us and culmination of a lot of experience found over the course of the season, a lot of tough races and losses, but then figuring out how to make things better," said head coach Paul Cooke on the varsity finish. "I was really pleased with the way the guys raced, and the whole squad did that today."

Bruno advanced all four boats in the morning heats to set the stage for the afternoon grand finals, starting with the fourth varsity race. Princeton jumped out to a quick start and led the whole way, establishing open water at 1,500 meters to place first in a time of 5:59.87. Brown was able to move past George Washington in the final 500 meters to best its sixth seed for fifth place, just shy of Boston University at 6:10.71.

In the third varsity grand final, all six boats enjoyed strong starts, before Cornell held an early advantage. By 500 meters, however, Brown moved out in front of the pack with Princeton not far behind, while the six crews were about 1-2 seats apart. After Princeton gained the lead at the midway mark, Harvard and Brown fought for second place, followed closely by Cornell in fourth. Bruno was able to fend off the Big Red down the stretch for the bronze medal at 5:56.58. Princeton won in a time of 5:53.52.

In the tightly contested second varsity race, Yale, Harvard and Princeton took an early lead, while Brown and Wisconsin were level at the final two spots. Brown stormed past two crews down the remainder of the course, passing both Wisconsin and Yale, to secure fourth place in a time of 5:53.38, just short of Boston University's time of 5:53.01. Harvard edged Princeton for the win at 5:48.68.

In the final race of the day, the varsity eight grand final, Yale established a slight lead over Harvard in the opening 350 meters. Princeton then joined the top two boats over the next 500 meters, while Cornell held fourth, followed by Brown two seats back in fifth. Brown made a strong push with 750 meters remaining, and passed Cornell and eventually Harvard in a furious comeback to earn a trip to the medal stand, taking third at 5:40.64. Yale crossed first in a time of 5:37.49.

Brown will now turn to the IRA National Championship on June 3-5 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

Varsity Boat
Bow: Russell Dodd (Engineering)
2: Brooks Reavill (Psychology)
3: Grant Bitler (International Relations: Political Economy; Economics)
4: Anand Rajesh (Neuroscience)
5: Avery Reavill (Economics)
6: Liam Casey (Religious Studies)
7: Alex Miklasevich (Economics)
Stroke: Finn Meeks (Economics)
Cox: Neil Mckenzie (History)

Grand Final Results
Varsity Eight
1          YALE - 5:37.494
2          PRINCETON - 5:39.838
3          BROWN - 5:40.643
4          HARVARD - 5:42.530
5          CORNELL - 5:43.723
6          BU - 5:47.411

Second Varsity
1          HARVARD - 5:48.686
2          PRINCETON - 5:48.939
3          BU - 5:53.015
4          BROWN - 5:53.387
5          YALE - 5:55.678
6          WISCONSIN - 6:00.774

Third Varsity
1          PRINCETON - 5:53.520
2          HARVARD - 5:54.622
3          BROWN - 5:56.580
4          CORNELL - 5:56.813
5          BU - 6:02.246
6          WISCONSIN - 6:03.200

Fourth Varsity
1          PRINCETON - 5:59.877
2          HARVARD - 6:02.382
3          CORNELL - 6:04.132
4          BU - 6:08.162
5          BROWN - 6:10.712
6          G WASHINGTON - 6:12.925

Rowe Cup (Team Points)
PRINCETON 37.00
HARVARD 35.00
BROWN 31.00
YALE 30.00
BU 27.00
CORNELL 24.00
WISCONSIN 16.00
NORTHEASTERN 13.00
DARTMOUTH 12.00
SYRACUSE 10.00
PENNSYLVANIA 7.00
COLUMBIA 6.00
NAVY 4.00
G WASHINGTON 4.00
RUTGERS 0.00
MIT 0.00
GEORGETOWN 0.00
HOLY CROSS 0.00