Brown Men’s Varsity 8 Takes Gold at Eastern Sprints

Brown's Varsity 8 captured a photo-finish victory over Princeton in the Grand Final to earn the program's first Eastern Sprints and 2024 Ivy League Championship since 2012 on Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond.

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WORCESTER, Mass. – Brown’s Varsity 8 captured a photo-finish victory over Princeton in the Grand Final to earn the program’s first Eastern Sprints and 2024 Ivy League Championship since 2012 on Sunday on Lake Quinsigamond.

Additionally, the Bears qualified for three Grand Finals in the morning heats and competed in five Grand Finals and one Petite Final in the afternoon, ultimately leaving with a gold medal, silver medal, and bronze medal.

“It was a big win for the whole team,” said Head Coach Paul Cooke ’89. “Everyone contributed to the energy and helped the Varsity 8 win the Sprints and the Ivy Championship.

“The Varsity rowed hard and kept their composure in a very tight race and were able to sprint to the victory. They showed a lot of courage and have improved all spring.

“It was great to have all 6 Eights racing. The upward pressure throughout the team was a big part of the success today.”

Brown’s 4V8 clocked a morning heat time of 5:48.918 to finish ahead of Penn (5:50.976), Northeastern (5:52.806), and Harvard (5:55.966). The Bears earned a spot in the afternoon Grand Final against Dartmouth, Yale, Boston U., Penn, and Syracuse.

The Third Varsity 8 crossed the line in 5:46.206 to finish in second behind Yale (5:41.118) to earn a spot in the afternoon Grand Final. The Bears finished ahead of Northeastern (5:49.394) and Penn (5:57.736).

The Varsity 8 recorded a time of 5:28.219 to beat out Yale (5:32.415) and Boston U. (5:38.107) to finish first in the morning heat and reach the afternoon Grand Final against the Bulldogs, Harvard, Princeton, Syracuse, Penn, and Northeastern.

The 2V8 closed out the morning with a three-crew race between Princeton, Dartmouth, and the Bears throughout the course. The Tigers crossed the line first with a time of 5:33.532 with Dartmouth just barely beating out the Bears with a time of 5:34.512, three-tenths of a second ahead of Brown (5:34.844) to send the Bears to the Petite Final.

The 6V8 opened the afternoon’s races in the Grand Final and jumped to an early lead and led Navy and Dartmouth halfway through the race. The Midshipmen and Big Green surged down the stretch to finish first and second, respectively.

Brown’s 5V8 captured bronze with a time of 5:59.866. The Bears held close with first-place Dartmouth (5:50.205) and second-place Yale (5:51.345) for most of the race before the Bulldogs and Big Green pulled away. Brown held off Navy (6:04.260) for the podium finish.

The Bruno 4V8 took silver with a time of 5:47.256, finishing less than two seconds back of the Yale crew (5:45.614). The Big Green finished third and Penn finished fourth as the Ivy League took the top-four spots.

The Third Varsity 8 posted a time of 5:47.922 to finish fifth in the Grand Final, trailing four Ivy programs in Princeton (5:39.776), Harvard (5:42.062), Yale (5:43.158), and Dartmouth (5:47.142).

In the 2V8 Petite Final, Brown jumped to an early lead and never looked back with a wire-to-wire win in 5:39.072. Penn finished second with a time of 5:40.268 with Boston University (5:41.348) taking third.

Yale jumped to an early lead in the Varsity 8 Grand Final before faltering in the second half of the race as Princeton and Brown made charges. However, it was Bruno who crossed the line first with a time of 5:28.639, finishing less than a hundredth of a second ahead of the Tigers (5:28.720) for Brown’s seventh gold medal in the Eastern Sprints Varsity 8 race.

With the first-place finish, Brown’s Varsity 8 (listed below) earns First Team All-Ivy honors in addition to the Ivy League Championship.

Brown heads to New Jersey to race in the IRA Championships, beginning on Friday, May 31 and continuing through Sunday, June 2 on Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey.

Results and Boatings
Varsity 8
Morning Heat
Brown – 5:28.219
Yale – 5:32.415
Boston U. – 5:38.107
Navy – 5:43.057
Holy Cross – 5:47.125

Grand Final
Brown – 5:28.639
Princeton – 5:28.720
Yale – 5:29.932
Harvard – 5:30.098
Penn – 5:34.046
Syracuse – 5:34.710
Northeastern – 5:39.576

B: Connor Brown
2: David Person
3: Oliver Page-Kuhr
4: Gabriel Mahler
5: Enno Mönch
6: Nathan Swidler
7: Ian Burnett
S: Willem Stoop
C: Jack DiGiovanni

Second Varsity 8
Morning Heat
Princeton – 5:33.532
Dartmouth – 5:34.512
Brown – 5:34.844
Navy – 5:48.414
Georgetown – 5:49.240

Petite Final
Brown – 5:39.072
Penn – 5:40.268
Boston U. – 5:41.348
Cornell – 5:47.965
Columbia – 5:50.097
Navy – 5:51.491

B: Simon Hatcher
2: Tom Griffin
3: Schuyler Bacon
4: Davis Kelly
5: Nick Gaensler
6: Adam von Bismarck
7: Josh Golbus
S: Dom Valt
C: Lizzie Mitchell

Third Varsity 8
Morning Heat
Yale – 5:41.118
Brown – 5:46.206
Northeastern – 5:49.394
Penn – 5:57.736

Grand Final
Princeton – 5:39.776
Harvard – 5:42.062
Yale – 5:43.158
Dartmouth – 5:47.142
Brown – 5:47.922
Boston U. – 5:51.638

B: Connor Prior
2: Harri Peck
3: Keyan O’Donnell
4: Mees du Croo de Jongh
5: Savas Koutsouras
6: Ben Jackson
7: Owen McKenna
S: Marcus Winter
C: Elenna Seguin

Fourth Varsity 8
Morning Heat
Brown – 5:48.918
Penn – 5:50.976
Northeastern – 5:52.806
Harvard – 5:55.966

Grand Final
Yale – 5:45.614
Brown – 5:47.256
Dartmouth – 5:52.758
Penn – 5:56.260
Boston U. – 5:57.896
Syracuse – 5:59.432

B: Gordan Milovac
2: Joseph Olagundoye
3: Tristan Green
4: Eddie Andrews
5: Matthew Boranian
6: Cole Matlack
7: Jack Cadwallader
S: Sean Egan
C: Matthew Rose

Fifth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Dartmouth – 5:50.205
Yale – 5:51.345
Brown – 5:59.866
Navy – 6:04.260
Princeton – 6:09.578
Penn – 6:14.570

B: Ivan Augustinov
2: Asher Swidler
3: Nicolas Abril
4: Henry Haskell
5: Will Thayer
6: Thomas Lasersohn
7: Gavin Green
S: Zachary Atalay
C: Quentin Baron

Sixth Varsity 8
Grand Final
Navy – 6:13.253
Dartmouth – 6:17.633
Brown – 6:18.649

B: Andy Chefetz
2: Vijay Ramakrishnan
3: Nikash Long
4: William Bennett
5: Carson Peterson
6: Reed Lucke
7: Colin Baker
S: Maanuv Allu
C: Mitali Vedula

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