Men's Lightweight Crew V8+ Victorious at River Hawk Challenge

THE BASICS:

- Event: River Hawk Challenge

- Location: Merrimack River (Lowell, Mass.)

- The Lead: In its first appearance at the River Hawk Challenge, the MIT men's lightweight crew team finished first in the Varsity 8+, second in the Second Varsity 4+, and fourth in the Varsity 4+ on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- The V8+ got off the line quickly and built a small lead which grew throughout the race, finishing in 5:41.2, exactly 8.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Middlebury College. The University of Rhode Island placed third (5:57.2), followed by UMass Lowell (6:05.9), and Skidmore College (6:14.6).

- In both the V4+ and 2V4+ races, MIT contended with opponents that do not field 8s, resulting in their top athletes competing in these events. The Engineers' V4+ finished second in its heat with a time of 6:27.3. Bowdoin College was quick in the heat, ultimately winning in 6:18.4, however, MIT built leads on Skidmore and the University of Maine at the 1,000-meter mark. Maine tried to push back into the Engineers during the second half, but MIT held the Black Bears off by a two-second margin. In the final, the Engineers were in the mix during the first 1,000 meters but the rest of the field pulled away down the stretch. Bowdoin captured the victory in 6:32.7, followed by UMass Lowell (6:35.4), Wentworth Institute of Technology (6:41.0), and MIT (6:56.6).

- The Engineers' depth helped it secure a close runner-up finish in the 2V4+ final. MIT had an early lead, however, Bowdoin moved ahead in the middle of the race. The Engineers stayed within striking distance, crossing the finish line in 6:21.5, exactly 1.8 seconds behind the Polar Bears. URI was third (6:28.7), followed by UMass Lowell (6:32.0), Massachusetts Maritime Academy (7:09.4), and Maine (7:20.8).

V8+
Cox: Christopher Jaicks
8: Severyn Kozak
7: Liam Green
6: Collin Renae
5: Allan Wu
4: Gabriel Margolis
3: Héctor Javier
2: Michael Carolan
1: Alden James