CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A sunny but chilly Saturday morning on the Charles River set the stage for the 104th rendition of Harvard-Yale-Princeton lightweight racing, with the long-time Ivy League rivals battling for the Goldthwait Cup in the 1V, the Prentke Cup in the 2V, the Yale Class of 2011 Bowl in the 3V and the Vogel Cup for points in all three races.
 
The day featured top competition across the board. Seven of the nine boats entered Saturday ranked among the nation's top four in the latest EARC seeding poll for their respective boat classes.
 
In the 1V, Princeton briefly took a lead of two seats on Harvard, with the Crimson holding a similar margin on Yale, before Harvard surged into first within the first 500m. The Bulldogs moved ahead of Princeton as well, with a battle developing for second as the crews passed the halfway mark. 
 
With Harvard holding an open water lead by the MIT Boathouse, Princeton and Yale traded blows behind the Crimson as the Bulldogs fought to maintain their edge. A Tiger push in the final 500m sealed second place for Princeton. Harvard has now won three straight Goldthwait Cups and two straight Vogel Cups. The Crimson is undefeated in its last 25 duals. 
 
The morning's racing started with the 3V. In that race, the Tigers took a lead of nearly a boat length by the 500m mark and never let up. The Bulldogs stayed close with Harvard through the Harvard Bridge, but the Crimson gradually pulled away to finish second. Princeton's 3V improved to 5-2 on the season. 
 
In the 2V race that followed it was Harvard that jumped out to an early lead, with Princeton in second. Those two entered the race as the top two crews in the latest EARC seeding poll and finished according to that form, with the Bulldogs in third. This marked the first loss of the season for Princeton's 2V, which had been 6-0.
 
The Bulldogs now prepare for Eastern Sprints, set for May 17 in Worcester, Mass.
 
Results at Harvard w/Princeton

• 1V
  • Harvard 5:36.3
  • Princeton 5:39.5
  • Yale 5:43.9
• 2V
  • Harvard 5:42.9
  • Princeton 5:47.1
  • Yale 5:56.4
• 3V
  • Princeton 5:40.2
  • Harvard 5:45.2
  • Yale 5:48.6

 
Boatings

First Varsity
cox       Phillip Martins
stroke  Benjamin Nadjibi
7            Finlay Murray
6            Fielding Staelin
5            Timmy Parsons
4            Max Blacksten
3            Andrew Kasparyan
2            Fiver Press
bow      Ry Natterson

Second Varsity
cox       Jack Ehlert
stroke Andrew Terkildsen
7            Will Konopka
6            Ago Ghiso
5            Nolan Kaputa
4            Asher Patent
3            Jack Ennis
2            Raph Clark
bow      Eddie Cavallin

Third Varsity
cox       Burke Brown
stroke  Patrick Kennedy
7            Ethan Motola Sullivan
6            Duncan Kilbride
5            Cormac Kimberly
4            Aidan Marks
3            Brandon Fernandez
2            Christian Mirzaian
bow      Matthew Califano