Harvard rowers discover silver lining at IRA races

CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Harvard varsity eight could not quite return to the IRA Regatta winner's circle, but it got back to winning medals, which was satisfying enough for the Crimson.

Harvard finished in a virtual tie with Stanford yesterday for second place at the 105th Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships on Cooper River, both boats finishing less than a second behind Washington.

The Crimson also finished second to Washington in the team standings.

In a thrilling race, Washington, the nation's top-ranked team all season, pulled away in the final moments to win the 2,000-meter race in 5 minutes 33.16 seconds. Harvard and Stanford were timed at 5:34.12, and Brown was a close fourth at 5:34.98 .

" It was a different kind of racing," Crimson senior Andrew Boston said. "The top six boats, side by side, the whole way down. It was a lot of fun. This is what you go out and train every day for -- the kind of opportunity to race like that."

As sophomores, Boston and Toby Medaris rowed for the varsity eight that won a third consecutive Varsity Challenge Cup. After that run of glory, the Crimson did not even medal last year.

So to come back with a silver was nice, but not everything, according to coach Harry Parker.

"We don't talk about this race," said Parker, who will be going after his 20th undefeated regular season at the Harvard-Yale Regatta next Saturday.

"We focus on the whole season, because every race is important. If you start to focus on just one race, you're setting yourself up for some disappointments."

Harvard got off to a slightly slow start in yesterday's main event, but caught Washington at 750 meters. The two then went back and forth for much of the race, with Stanford making a run at 1,500 meters. With the Crimson between the other two boats in Lane 2, Washington pulled away for its first title since 1997.

In the team standings for the Ten Eyck Cup , the Huskies had 216 points to the Crimson's 191 . Brown (185) finished fourth and Yale eighth (141).

Helping Harvard gain runner-up status were fourth-place finishes by the freshman eight and the second varsity eight . The third varsity eight took seventh by winning the second varsity petite race .

"It's always mixed emotions if you're not on the winner's platform, but I was very proud of everyone," Boston said.