On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Worcester, Mass., the Wisconsin men's varsity crew team exorcised 56 years of futility in the premiere event at the Eastern Sprints by winning the Varsity Eight event in a scorching time of 5:36.6 against Harvard's second-place time of 5:38.1. The last time the Badgers won the Varsity Eight event was in 1946, when the race was held in Annapolis, Md., and Harry S. Truman was president of the United States.
Wisconsin headed into the race as something of an unknown due to the fact that UW had only competed against three East Coast schools (Dartmouth, M.I.T. and Boston University) prior to the championships. Wisconsin handled all three schools with ease and went into the race with some confidence.
\I know that the V-8 has the muscle power, however, it also is a matter of the other crews and how much savvier they are than us,"" Head Coach Chris Clark said.
Wisconsin showed its muscle and composure in the race, demonstrating not only strength but the poise and mentality it takes to win a championship. Wisconsin was down about four seats to Harvard for the first half of the race and only took the lead for good with around 850 meters left in the race.
Harvard came into the race as the top-ranked college on the East Coast and the undefeated Crimson were the clear favorite.
The Badgers, as usual, were viewed as the underdogs, ranked third behind Harvard and Northeastern.
""It was well-fought and well-earned against a very tough Harvard boat,"" said Wisconsin junior Daniel Mueller, who sat in the six seat of the varsity boat. ""Harvard had the lead at the 500-meter mark, which was sort of surprising since in our other victories, we had shot out to an early lead and gradually pulled away even more. This time we had to play catch-up and then pull away.""
Wisconsin and Harvard were neck-and-neck at the halfway mark and continued to duke it out through the next few hundred meters, with neither team gaining on the other. UW then took a move for Dylan Cappel. That move served as the turning point in the race, as the team went on to take the race going away and Harvard learned a lesson in losing.
Cappel was UW's assistant crew coach and a crew alumnus who passed away in late January of colon cancer. Cappel's passing had an effect on the whole team and the varsity eight dedicated their victory to Cappel's memory.
In the other events of the day, Wisconsin placed third in the junior varsity event, behind winner Harvard and second-place Cornell. In the third Varsity Eight, Wisconsin won the event for the third straight year. Wisconsin only began sending its third eight out to Eastern Sprints in 2000 and so far UW has a perfect record in the event.
The Eastern Sprints are the premiere rowing event on the East Coast. Invitation is exclusive to schools in the Eastern Sprints League. The race has an air of old money snobbery and Ivy League attitude, which makes Wisconsin's victory in the premiere event all the more enjoyable, considering that Wisconsin is one of only three public schools in the league. Northeastern and Rutgers are the other two.
The Sprints serve as a prelude to the national championships, which are in early June in Camden, New Jersey. The national championship usually comes down to the winner of the Sprints versus the winner of the Pac-10 championships.
This year looks to be no different, as Wisconsin and the University of California-Berkeley will likely face off in the Grand Final at nationals. Wisconsin, which earlier this spring lost to California, will look to avenge that loss and claim a national title.
