WORCESTER, MASS. -- People disagree on the toughest college athletic conference in America? The Big 10 or the Big 12 for football? The Big East or the ACC for basketball?
But there's no doubt what the toughest conference for rowing is. At least, not to Columbia head lightweight coach Marc DeRose.
"Let's face it," he says. "The EARC is the toughest conference for rowing. It's an amazing conference. It's tough, it's demanding. In this league, fifth is an accomplishment!"
Especially after missing the Grand Final two straight years. But DeRose and his sixth-ranked Lion varsity had been aiming higher, possibly for a medal (top three). They had rowed strongly in their opening heat, defeating Rutgers, Georgetown and Delaware, while losing to third-ranked Dartmouth by just .007.
As the varsity lightweight Grand Final approached, Columbia was ready. The Lions would face Cornell, which they had beaten during the regular season to win the Geiger Cup, as well as top-ranked Navy and Yale, who both had defeated Columbia by narrow margins. Harvard and Dartmouth, newcomers to the Lions, would also be in the Grand Final.
But none of the six teams had anticipated one other factor -- Mother Nature, which unleashed one of the most violent weather cells ever seen in New England, a fierce 90-minute blast of wind, up to 65 miles per hour, driving rain, thunder and lightning. The crews were ordered off the water as the EARC directors, in urgent public address announcements, directed the large crowd to seek shelter.
By the time the racing resumed, the sun beamed over Lake Quinsigamond, but the air temperature had plummeted from 73 to 46 degrees!
DeRose had predicted that Columbia had to go out quickly to have a shot at winning, but the other crews got off the starting line well. By the halfway point, Columbia had fallen behind, and remained off the leaders, fighting through Dartmouth for fifth place.
"The technique was there, the effort was there, the rowing was there," DeRose said. "Everybody was happy with the way we raced, but not with the outcome. We gave it everything we had."
The freshman lightweights also gave it everything they had. Seeded fourth among the 10 frosh lightweight boats, they bettered their seed by one in order to gain the bronze medal.
In doing so, they successfully held off powerful Yale for the second straight season. Princeton won the Grand Final in 6:18.56, with Navy second at 6:22.26. Columbia was third in 6:26.88, followed by the Elis, fourth in 6:28.59, Harvard, and Georgetown. In 2005, Navy had won the race, with Princeton second, Columbia third and Yale fourth.
"Our hard work paid off," freshman coach Vaclav Kacir said. "The boys raced their best race of the season."
"That was a great job by the freshman lightweights," Columbia rowing director Mike Zimmer noted. "They rowed with a lot of composure." The second varsity lightweights reached the Petite Final, finishing fourth of five.
While the Sprints represented the conclusion to the season for the freshmen, the varsity rowers will continue to train in preparation for the National Lightweight Championships at the IRA Regatta Saturday, June 3 on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
The EARC Sprints results and competitors:
Varsity Lightweights, Grand Final
1. Cornell, 6:06.22
2. Navy, 5:56.34
3. Yale, 5:57.69
4. Harvard, 5:57.81
5. COLUMBIA, 6:01.70
6. Dartmouth,. 6:02.71
Heat 2 - Columbia third of six in heat
Second Varsity Lightweights, Petite Final
1. Rutgers, 6:26.72
2. Georgetown, 6:30.96
3. Penn, 6:32.67
4. COLUMBIA, 6:32.92
5. Delaware, 6:42.43
Heat 2 - Columbia fifth of five in heat
Freshman Lightweights, Grand Final
1. Princeton, 6:18.56
2. Navy, 6:22.26
3. COLUMBIA, 6:26.88
4. Yale, 6:28.59
5. Harvard, 6:34.39
6. Georgetown, 6:38.98
Heat 1 - Columbia second of five in heat
Varsity Eight
Milos Tomic, Sr., stroke; David Myers, Sr., 7; Carl Engel, So., 6; Sam Barnett, So., 5; Eric Heinbockel, So., 4; Ryan Wood, So., 3; Sanford Murray, Sr., 2; Emre Vural, So., bow; Colleen Leth, So.-BC, coxswain.
Second Varsity Eight
Aleks Sverdlov, Jr., stroke; Alexander Baumel, Jr., 7; Jason Bush, So., 6; Adrian Podpirka, Sr., 5; Nick Tucker, So., 4; Jason Novick, So., 3; Stephen Robinson, So., 2; John Mascari, So., bow; Jenny Ronis, Jr.-BC, coxswain.
Freshman Eight
Greg Pupo, Fr., stroke; Brian Mulligan, Fr., 7; Daniel Feldman, Fr., 6; Lars Boman, Fr., 5; Andrew Ward, Fr., 4; Nick LaCava, Fr., 3; Steffan Wolfe, Fr., 2; Mike Long, Fr., bow; Christianne Dawis, Fr.-EN, coxswain.
