Back where it belongs

By Sharon Lin

The racing, which took place in five-boat heats, began on Sat., Apr. 4. All weekend, the weather was "threatening rain, but sunny and quite windy," head coach Andy Card said. "We had to win the heat. We took control of that pretty much; we certainly had control by 1,000 meters--it was clear we were going to win." The eight Yale oarsmen beat Pennsylvania quite easily and saved their energy for Sunday's final race. Rutgers challenged Harvard in the second heat, but Harvard managed to pull out a win. "Rutgers was closer to Harvard than Penn was to Yale," Card noted.

COURTESY DEVON PORPORA Tyler Johnson, BR '00, and captain Steve Purdy, TD '98, prepare for the San Diego race.

Although Yale beat Harvard in San Diego last year, it is no indicator for the upcoming regular season, which begins this weekend. "This is not a big deal," captain Steve Purdy, TD '98, said. "The whole trip was great, but we need to focus on getting faster throughout the season and peaking at Sprints." Jordan Neysmith, SY '98, said, "It was a solid start to the season. We're psyched to be building on a strong base."

"It's always good to beat Harvard no matter where or when, and we got the win," Card said. "But the ultimate decision has yet to be made of which crew is the fastest in the nation. Neither team, I'm sure, is a finished product...every year is a new year and we're not afraid of what happened last year."

Back to Sports...