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COLLEGE ROWING

Harvard beats Cornell to open rowing season

The morning sky was gray but you can color the Charles River crimson as Harvard took varsity, second varsity, and freshman races from Cornell to kick off the New England intercollegiate rowing season England on Saturday.

Harvard’s varsity boat, ranked third by USRowing, set the pace in the day’s opening race as the Crimson defeated the ninth-ranked Big Red by a length. George Washington was a distant third. The race marked the start of the Crimson’s 150th rowing season.

With a crossing headwind coming off the Cambridge shore, the race was tight through the first 1,000 meters with Harvard appearing to hold about a deck-length lead. The Crimson made a move as the boats exited the shadow of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge and approached the MIT Boathouse. The lead increased to a full length at the 1,500-meter mark, a margin the Big Red couldn’t erase.

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“We didn’t have a race plan that called for us to make a move at that point in the race,” said Harvard coach Charley Butt. “We were simply trying to be consistent from stroke to stroke. We were glad to be able to move more with each 500 meters and we were very strong in the second thousand. We got into a good groove.”

Harvard clocked in at 6:02.50, while Cornell finished at 6:06.30 and George Washington posted a 6:11.50.

The race marked just the 12th time Harvard and Cornell have rowed in head-to-head competition, with the Crimson holding an 8-4 advantage. Harvard has won the last five races between the schools, and each race since the competition resumed in 2010 after a 49-year hiatus.

In the second varsity race, Harvard rebuffed a charge by Cornell at the 1,500-meter mark and held on to take a half-length victory. The Crimson crossed the line in 6:10.60, with Cornell 2.1 seconds back. George Washington was not a factor. Harvard dominated the freshman race with a win by more than two lengths of open water.

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“The entire team, all the boats, had a very high compete level today,” Butts said. “Cornell is a strong opponent. They’re a very physical group and they pushed us all the way down the course. Both teams were strong, but this is just a starting point.

“This is just a bunch of good guys,” Butt added as team members trickled in and out of the Newell Boathouse workshop. “We had a good winter of work and have been able to get on the water seven or eight times before today. They’re hard workers and we want to carry on our tradition of efficiency.”

Harvard will face its second top-10 opponent to begin the season when the Crimson travel to sixth-ranked Brown next Saturday for the 51st race for the Stein Cup. Harvard will be looking to win the Cup for the fifth straight year and the 42d time overall.

Also on the Charles, Columbia retained the Alumni Cup by a 6:13.50-6:25.30 advantage over MIT. Dartmouth and Holy Cross also competed in the race, with the 15th-ranked Big Green edging No. 19 Columbia by 1.5 seconds, and Holy Cross nipping MIT by .7 seconds for third in the closest finish of the day.