No. 6 Men’s Crew Takes Third at Eastern Sprints, Second Varsity Claims Silver

Sunday, May 19

Worcester, MA

All Day

Brown University

Eastern Sprints

No. 6 Men’s Crew Takes Third at Eastern Sprints, Second Varsity Claims Silver

5/19/2019 8:22:00 PM | Men's Crew

Results Photo Gallery

WORCESTER, Mass. – The No. 6 Brown University men's crew captured a bronze medal in the varsity eight and a silver medal in the second varsity as the Bears competed at the EARC Eastern Sprints Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond.

The Eastern Sprints is composed of the top rowing schools in the East and also determines the Ivy League Championship. Yale won the varsity race to claim the EARC and Ivy title for the fifth straight season. In addition, Brown placed fourth overall out of 17 programs in the Rowe Cup standings, which is awarded to the school with the highest team point total in the varsity, second varsity and third varsity races.

"I feel like the guys have gone through a lot to be prepared and have been racing and pushing each other hard," said head coach Paul Cooke. "The guys raced really well and the competition between them all has made them better and that showed today."

Brown advanced two boats to the grand finals from the morning heats, as the second varsity topped their heat by four seconds, while the varsity also advanced to the afternoon grand final.

In the varsity eight grand final, the last race of the afternoon, the Bears lined up against Yale, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University and Princeton. Yale used an aggressive start to establish a slight lead over Harvard at 500 meters, followed closely by Brown and Northeastern. Brown passed Northeastern and moved up to third place by 800 meters, but Princeton came back to challenge Bruno for the third spot at the midway point. Nevertheless, Brown pushed back on the Tigers and held the third position the rest of the way to capture bronze in a time of 6:24.82. Yale won over Harvard at 6:16.29.

"We wanted to get better throughout the day and we certainly did that," said senior co-captain Rufus Biggs. "We came off the water in the morning knowing that it was solid but not the best that we have felt, and we were confident that we could come back and really take control in the afternoon. We're happy to come away from today beating our seed going in, and medaling is always great."

The varsity boat bested its seed by one spot and claimed a medal for the second time in as many seasons at Sprints.

"We got on the water with the idea that, having the outside lane, we wanted to be the disrupter and be more relaxed than the morning," said senior Jack Abeel. "We were more locked in together, very relaxed, and all the way down the course when we had those huge gusts of wind, we took advantage of the conditions in our favor."

The Bears competed against Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth and Northeastern in the second varsity grand final. Harvard and Yale raced out to an early lead in a tight race, while the Bears dropped back to fifth at 500 meters. Dartmouth held a two-seat lead over Brown for fourth place at the halfway mark, but the Bears picked up the pace in the second half, first passing the Big Green in the third 500 meters. The Bears closed out the race with a furious finish and charged past Yale and Princeton down the stretch for second at 6:28.84. The Crimson won in a time of 6:25.93.

"I thought we executed very well," said Daniel Boasberg, who rowed in the second varsity. "We came back really strong in the second half, and our coxswain did an excellent job of maintaining faith in the crew, and we did an excellent job of finishing strong and finishing fast."

The fourth varsity kicked off the afternoon set of races with a victory in the petite final. All five crews were level off the start before Wisconsin and Brown emerged with a slim lead around the 300-meter mark. The two boats jostled for position at the midway point, but the Bears used a big push in the second half of the race, and cruised to an open water victory at 6:51.14 before Wisconsin crossed in a time of 6:57.08.

After a third-place finish in the morning heat, Brown's third varsity boat finished third in the petite final. Northeastern gained the lead out of the gate, followed by Navy and Wisconsin, but the Bears inched past Wisconsin during the second 500 meters to move into third at the midway point. Brown gained a few seats on Navy in the final 500 meters before crossing in a time of 6:52.06. Northeastern won the race at 6:46.33.

Next up, Brown will compete at the IRA National Championship on May 31 - June 2 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.

RESULTS
Fourth Varsity Petite Final
1          BROWN - 6:51.148
2          WISCONSIN - 6:57.084
3          CORNELL - 6:57.212
4          SYRACUSE - 7:07.174
5          G WASHINGTON - 7:16.628

Third Varsity Petite Final
1          NORTHEASTERN - 6:46.335
2          NAVY - 6:49.607
3          BROWN - 6:52.063
4          WISCONSIN - 7:03.035
5          CORNELL - 7:11.639
6          G WASHINGTON - 7:36.719

Second Varsity Grand Final
1          HARVARD - 6:25.930
2          BROWN - 6:28.842
3          PRINCETON - 6:30.098
4          YALE - 6:30.194
5          DARTMOUTH - 6:34.074
6          NORTHEASTERN - 6:38.326

Varsity Eight Grand Final
1          YALE - 6:16.296
2          HARVARD - 6:22.008
3          BROWN - 6:24.824
4          PRINCETON - 6:28.360
5          NORTHEASTERN - 6:29.632
6          BU - 6:35.392

Lineups
1V
C. Ryan Williams
8. Thomas Phelps
7. Alex Miklasevich
6. Rufus Biggs
5. Henry Hollingsworth
4. Finn Jenkins
3. Jack Abeel
2. Will Legenzowski
1. Alex Kelly

2V
C. Lambert Li
8. Gus Hirschfeld
7. Ben Olsen
6. Andy Provost
5. Gus Rodriguez
4. Daniel Boasberg
3. Dylan Norris
2. Matias Hoite
1. Oscar Bird

3V
C. Orly Mansbach
8. John Norton
7. Michael Cuellar
6. Nathan Manrique
5. Hugh Jia
4. George Lawton
3. Brian Mundelius
2. Lachlan MacKenzie
1. Malcolm Nash

4V
C. Lauren Parker
8. Benjamin Shore
7. Jacob Jamison
6. Aleksa Tosic
5. Richard Patton
4. Luke Rossi
3. Andrew Cooke
2. Max Goldman
1. Matthew Ishimaru