The men's heavyweight crew team overcame the University of New Hampshire Sunday in a race on the Connecticut River, while the women's crew team and the men's lightweight team lost their respective weekend races.
Every Dartmouth heavyweight boat beat its UNH counterpart, the varsity winning by a comfortable seven-second margin.
Heavyweight Captain Mark Scott '95 said "I don't think anyone doubted we would win, but it is good to know we are where we were in years past."
The first boat established an early lead over UNH, and gained more seats throughout the race, especially during a surge after the first 1,000 meters.
"That is our most important piece," Scott said. "We take it up a notch and try to lengthen out. We gained about half a length there."
Scott said the Big Green treated Sunday's race as a practice.
"Going into the race we had a few things we were trying to work on, like starts and our power 20," he said.
"We didn't taper at all for this race. We're focusing on next week's race in Boston against [Boston University] and Rutgers," Scott said.
The lightweight rowers did not fare as well in their home race against Harvard on Saturday, losing by a six-second margin.
The varsity boat took the lead early on, but by 500 meters Harvard and Dartmouth were even. At this point a strong headwind developed, and the Harvard oarsmen moved ahead. Dartmouth never made up the ground.
Lightweight Coach Dick Grossman cited the "freak headwind" as a factor in the loss.
"A big gust of wind hit us. We didn't handle it very well. We fell apart. Our stroke rating dropped, we shortened up, and Harvard drove it out longer and stronger into the wind," Captain Doug Marple '95 said.
Grossman said the team was anticipating a tough race.
"Expectations were exceptionally high. We won our first two races, so the loss came as a bit of a shock," he said.
The Dartmouth team is "in as good shape as we have been in either of the last two years," Grossman said. "It is just a matter of getting the boat rowing together better."
Marple said, "We're thinking about trying different racing strategy. Starting tomorrow we'll see if we can try some new things."
The freshmen lightweights sprinted past their Harvard counterparts, winning by two-tenths of a second.
The lightweights will race Yale, Rutgers and Columbia this weekend at a regatta in Derby, Conn.
The women's team lost to Yale but defeated Boston University in a home race Saturday.
The first boat started slower than both Yale and B.U., but soon caught the B.U. boat. Yale pressed its advantage and kept the same distance on the Dartmouth boat until the finish.
"It was not a tight race," Captain Erica Ruliffson '95 said. "We are disappointed but not discouraged."
Varsity Rower Jen Burns '95 agreed she was disappointed but said, "We feel we can get them by the [Eastern] Sprints."
The women's team was on the water for two hours before Saturday's race. "We didn't have much feeling in our hands," Burns said.
But she said this was not a factor in the race since "it affected everybody equally."
The freshman women beat Yale's novice squad but lost to Boston University.
The women's next meet will be against Radcliffe and Syracuse this Saturday at home.
