The Dartmouth crew teams traveled all over the northeast competing for three highly respected trophies. The men's heavyweight team journeyed to Piscataway, N.J. to take on both Boston University and Rutgers University. Meanwhile, the lightweight team competed in Cambridge, Mass., against MIT and Harvard. Likewise, the women's crew team battled Radcliffe and Syracuse at Syracuse, N.Y. With this trifecta of away matches, Dartmouth was poised to make a splash at any of these arenas. In this early spring action, all three Dartmouth teams were ready to demonstrate their year long hard work and incessant practice, showcasing the talent of Hanover's finest.
The men's heavyweight team fared the best overall this weekend, claiming the Bill Cup for the eighth straight time on Saturday. Easily passing Rutgers, the Dartmouth varsity squad managed to hold an eight-seat lead by the 1000 meter mark over Boston University after falling to second place at the beginning of the race. Cruising on the Raritan River, the Big Green varsity eight put away the competition once and for all in the third 500 meters sailing to an easy victory. Posting a 6.03:65, Dartmouth's victory was never in doubt after the halfway point. Boston University, however, claimed the junior varsity and freshmen races and proved a worthy opponent to Dartmouth, falling just short of stealing the Bill Cup from the Green.
The men's lightweight team, however, had a little more trouble against its competition. Navigating across the Charles River, Dartmouth easily passed MIT but had a tougher time against the strong Harvard crew team. In a tough race, the varsity eight Crimson squad posted a 5:50.9, besting Dartmouth's 6:00.7. The freshman and second varsity teams both fared better in two very close races, but fell short against the overpowering Harvard crew team. Harvard swept all five races this weekend and claimed the Biglin Bowl for the third consecutive year as Dartmouth came in second and MIT raced to a distant third.
The women's team, had an even tougher time against very stiff competition in the forests and streams in the state of New York. With near perfect conditions on the river, Radcliffe cruised to its fourth straight O'Leary Cup. Dartmouth's varsity eight squad and second varsity eight squad both lost in two fairly uncontested races. With no entry in the Varsity Four B race, Radcliffe stole and easy victory. Despite this, the Big Green failed to get swept in all races as the novice eight scored a victory by over 10 seconds over the Black and White, showing great promise for future races to come and finishing third in the quest for the O'Leary Cup. With plenty of races to come during this young season, Dartmouth will look to do even better against the tough competition to come.
All three teams will be competing next Saturday with the hopes of scoring more victories for the Big Green. The women's team will square off against Ivy League competitors Penn and Princeton as the men's heavyweight will have a home race against Ancient Eight competitor, Brown University. The lightweight team, on the other hand, will race Yale and Rutgers on Saturday, hoping to claim the Durand Cup. With plenty of action to come during the rest of the spring, Dartmouth seeks to avenge some of this weekend's losses next Saturday on the rivers of the east coast.
