The annual Dartmouth-Yale race was held in New Haven this past weekend. It was the Dartmouth men's opening race, as well as the first race showcasing the Olympic Axe Trophy, which marks the winner between these two rivals. With ideal racing conditions, the Bulldogs just edged out a win against the Big Green, taking the race by two seconds, as the final times had the Bulldogs at 5:35.00 and the Big Green at 5:37.00.
"We were disappointed with the loss, obviously, but we raced according to the plan we had talked about before," said Rebecka Mamer '04. "While we put together a solid race, we feel we have room to improve."
The Yale team was fired up early, and started with a hefty lead. The Big Green did manage to recover and pose a serious threat but could never get closer than one half length.
Mamer thought that the team would improve as the season progressed, saying, "We're not making any major adjustments for our race this upcoming weekend, just sharpening some technical points. Our racing will improve as we get more water time."
He also added, "Our captains, Peter Noteboom '05 and Dave Shamszad '04, have been great leaders thus far in the season."
In addition to the varsity heavyweight race, Yale won the jayvee and freshmen heavyweight contests.
The Dartmouth team has set solid goals for itself.
"We want to improve on last season's performance by medaling at Eastern Sprints, our league championships, and making the grand finals at IRAs, our national championship," Mamer said.
In terms of their competition, all of the Sprint schools appear to have significantly improved, so the Big Green will have to come day in and day out and row its best for each win. The Harvard team, though, should be Dartmouth's toughest rival of the season. The two will face each other on May 16 at the Eastern Sprints.
Dartmouth hopes to bounce back this Saturday at Boston University. The meet will also feature the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers.
