For 111 years, the best junior varsity crews in the country have gathered at the IRA regatta to battle it out for top honours. While many of the athletes in these boats will have begun their year dreaming of sitting in their respective first eights, they will now line up against 21 other second-ranked crews for glory, 96 Ten Eyck points and the Kennedy Challenge Cup: a bowl just as old as the trophy awarded to the top crew in the country.
University of Washington
Entering the event as the only undefeated unit in the country, the Washington Huskies opened their season against top East Coast competition in Sarasota before cleaning up against the best of the west. They won first in their dual racing commitments before claiming top honours at the inaugural Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships. This weekend, they will have every expectation of continuing that undefeated run that goes back to these championships two years ago, where they finished within 2.5 seconds of the victorious California crew. With eyes on the Ten Eyck trophy, success here would set the Huskies up well for the overall championship, as well as draping the crew in gold.
University of California – Berkeley
Their rivals from California have had a similarly untroubled season, dropping just two dual races, the first to Yale (who would subsequently be defeated by the Golden Bear’s third eight) and the second to Washington (who backed their victory at the MPSF championships). However, all hope of victory is not lost for the men from Berkeley as this weekend will see the entrance of their ultra-talented freshmen eight into their varsity squad. While largely expected to fill the third and fourth-ranked boats, the top few athletes may make it into the junior varsity, including many with junior and under 23 international experience and world championship medals. Scott Frandsen will be hoping that this will be able to close the gap to Washington in Sunday’s final.
Harvard University
On the East Coast, Harvard University have been the class of the field, undefeated since their loss in late March to Washington on neutral water. They have put second-ranked boats to the sword across the country, with their closest victory being a two-second margin over Penn. Following their confident gold at Eastern Sprints, the Crimson are well-drilled in championship racing and will be looking to overturn their early-season defeat, flying the flag for the Ivy League against the West Coast rivals. If any crew across the heavyweight racing is going to upset the titans from out west, this could be the one to do it.
Princeton University
It was not the easiest dual season for the Princeton Tigers’ 2V; losses to Penn, Harvard and Brown left them in an unexpectedly weak position headed into the conference championships, but they emerged in a stronger position. Second place, comfortably in the medals, showed their raw speed is there in the fury of six-lane racing, and they will hope to continue this form on the Cooper River this weekend. With enough horsepower to make it into the medals, the Tigers will be looking to build on their speed for their final race of the season.
Dartmouth College
While the second varsity at Dartmouth have not quite had the results of the first crew, it has been a rather spectacular season none the less. Losing just one race all regular season, the Big Green finished third at the Eastern Sprints, setting up a number five seed for this weekend. For Dartmouth in recent years, one of their great strengths have been their depth. In the last three years, the second crew has won two bronze medals, while the top crew has missed the grand final. Now, with the varsity firing on all cylinders, the second crew will want to maintain the strength of the entire boathouse in Hanover.
Brown University
Of all the crews this season, the Brown second outfit have been one of the most confusing. In dual racing, the have been one of the best in the country, losing only to California in Redwood Shores. However, in multi-lane racing they have been rather underwhelming. In late March, they dropped a three-wide race to Yale, and slipping back behind Northeastern in the five-lane racing the following morning. More recently, they missed the grand final at Eastern Sprints, finishing two seconds away from the cutoff in their heat. With such speed in the boat, Paul Cooke will have confidence that this crew can figure it out, but with only three runs down the track remaining, there is a wide range of outcomes open to this crew from Rhode Island.
Predictions
Harvard have been rather impressive across the board since their early-season defeat, but I just can’t see anybody upsetting the run of the Washington Huskies. I’d pick the Crimson for second, with the California Golden Bears in third.
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