The Terriers' men's crews have been seeded for this weekend's 54th Annual Eastern Sprints. The competition will be held on Sunday on Worcester's Lake Quinsigamond. The morning races will begin at 8:15 a.m. The Terriers' first freshman boat will race at 9:00 a.m., the second varsity at 10:30 a.m., and the first varsity at 11:15 a.m. The afternoon racing will get underway at 2:00 p.m.

THE SEEDINGS: The following is where the Terriers are seeded in each of the three events in which they are entered in this year's Sprints.

Varsity Heavyweight: 13th. This is the lowest seeding for a Rodney Pratt-coached Terrier boat. Last year, the Terriers were eighth, which, ironically, was the highest seed for Pratt. The previous three years, they were seeded 12th. In this year's morning heat, the Terriers will row against top-seeded Princeton, sixth-seeded Yale, seventh-seeded Wisconsin, and 12th-seeded Navy.

Second Varsity: 9th. Last year, the 2V was seeded 8th and finished 6th overall. This year, the Terriers will row in the morning against third-seeded Penn, fourth-seeded Wisconsin, and 10th-seeded Northeastern. There are only four boats entered in this heat since Columbia will not have a 2V boat.

First Freshmen: 5th. A year ago, the Terriers were seeded 14th in this event and finished 15th. So, this program has shown a marked improvement in just one season. Perhaps their most impressive performance came last Saturday when defeated Yale, 6:04.5 to 6:05.3. In this year's morning racing, the Terriers will row against second-seeded Brown, eighth-seeded Dartmouth, 11th-seeded Cornell, and 14th-seeded MIT.

FIRST VARSITY VS. HEAT FIELD: The Terriers have rowed against two of their foes in the varsity heavyweight event. In fact, it was just this past weekend they battled Yale and Wisconsin, and, in each of the races, B.U. turned in its best times of the year. First, on Saturday (May 1st) the Terriers covered the 2000-meter course on The Charles River in 5:58.75 but lost to Yale, 5:52.68. Then, on Sunday, in their regular-season finale, the Terriers were timed in 5:53.2, but Wisconsin was clocked in 5:45.8.

SECOND VARSITY, FROSH VS HEAT FIELD: Second Varsity: The Second Varsity is 1-1 against its heat rivals. They lost to Wisconsin last Sunday, 5:53:09 to 6:04.1, while they defeated Northeastern on April 10th, 6:11.31 to 6:13.9.

First Freshmen: The frosh are 1-1 against its morning opponents. They lost to Brown in the second regatta of the year on April 3rd, 6:03.8 to 6:14.0. Then, on April 17th, in a regatta that included Rutgers, the Terriers rowed past Dartmouth, 6:10.0 to 6:18.0. Rutgers won the event in a time of 6:04.0.

PENNSYLVANIA A FAVORITE STATE: Four members of the varsity heavyweight boat and four from the 2V are from Pennsylvania. From the 1V boat, there are Christopher Torney (King of Prussia), Robert Rogers (Haverford), Ian Ruegg, and Sean McCourt (each from Philadelphia). From the 2V boat, there are Sean Corcoran (Philadelphia), Edward Leonard (Wyndmoor), Eric Jonas (Newtown), and Joseph Pizonka (Malvern).

A SMALL BOAT: The Terriers' varsity heavyweight boat might be the smallest in this year's Sprints. The eight rowers average 6-2, 179.5. The heaviest is number-three seat Andrew Hunter, who weighs 200 pounds. The senior from Milwaukee, WI stands 6-2. The lightest of the rowers is number-two seat Matt Elwood, who stands 6-4 but weighs just 155 pounds. The tallest of the oarsman is number-six seat Aaron Martlage, who is 6-5 and weighs 195. The shortest is stroke Sean McCourt, who is 5-11 and weighs 173.

FRESHMAN BOAT IS BIGGER: The Terriers' first freshman boat is bigger than the first varsity. The eight rowers in the frosh boat average almost 6-3 and 192 pounds. Everyone is at least 6-1, while Sean Casavechia is the tallest at 6-6. All eight weigh at least 180 pounds, while Kevin Valent, who stands 6-2, is the heaviest at 220. The stroke, Andre Reid, is 6-1, 192 compared to the varsity stroke, Sean McCourt, who is 5-11, 173.

PRATT ON THE SEASON: In summing up the Terriers' season, in which they finished 1-6, Coach Pratt said, "This was a very disappointing season. The problem has been we are a very small boat, and we don't have the power where we need it to be. I think, technically, we are rowing the best we can. We just haven't been consistent enough. We haven't put together a consistent 2000-meter race yet. We are getting faster, but so is everyone else. We showed that last weekend against Yale and Wisconsin. We rowed the fastest we have all season, but we ran against two boats that were faster."

BREAKDOWN BY CLASS: This year's varsity heavyweight boat features five seniors, three juniors and a sophomore. The only sophomore is cox Christopher Perry. The juniors are Ian Ruegg (number-4 seat), Robert Rogers (number 5), and Aaron Martlage (number 6). The seniors are Christopher Torney (bow), Matthew Elwood (number 2), Andrew Hunter (number 3), David Padgett (number 7), and Sean McCourt (stroke).

RETURN TRIP FOR TRIO: For Rogers, Padgett, and McCourt, this is their second straight year they will be rowing in the varsity heavyweight boat. Last year, Rogers was in the 3 seat, while he is the number 5 seat this year. For both Padgett, in the 7 seat, and McCourt at stroke, they are in the same seat this year as they were a year ago.

A YEAR AGO: Last year, the Terriers were seeded 8th in the varsity heavyweight and finished the day in 10th overall. In the morning racing, the Terriers' varsity heavyweight finished 3rd in a time of 5:50.50, behind heat winner Harvard (5:47.40) and runner-up Wisconsin (5:50.30). Then, in the Petite Finals, B.U. (6:29.20) was 4th behind Brown (6:25.0), Navy (6:26.70), and Cornell (6:28.90). The second varsity was also seeded 8th but finished 6th in the Grand Finals. They earned a berth in the Finals after finishing 2nd in the morning heat behind Wisconsin, 5:52.60 to 5:54.30. Their time in the Finals was 6:43.10. Princeton won the 2V event with a time of 6:16.80. Finally, in the first freshmen, B.U. was third in the 3rd Level Finals. The boat went into the Sprints seeded 14th. They were 5th in the morning heat (6:21.50) and then, 3rd in the Finals.

PRATT'S BEST FINISH IN THE HEAVYWEIGHT EVENT: Twice, during his Terrier tenure, Coach Pratt has had heavyweight boats finish 8th. The first time was in 1994, while they repeated their final standing in 1995. Prior to that, his team's best finish had been ninth in 1991. That boat narrowly missed a trip to the Finals when Princeton edged them by less than a foot in the morning heat. The team's lowest finish under Pratt was 12th in 1992 and 1993. In 1996, they were 10th, while they were 9th in 1997 and 10th last year.

NOT SINCE 1990: The last time the Terriers advanced to the Sprints' finals was in 1990, when they finished sixth overall.

SPRING RESULTS