The men's lightweight crew looks to defend the title, which the team won in a dramatic come-from-behind victory last season.
"It's one of the neatest events in all of college sports," men's lightweight head coach Steve Perry said. "You rarely see an event with that much tradition."
Last year, the Big Green lightweights set a new course record, with a time of 5:38.894.
Dartmouth won the Wright Cup, awarded to the winner of the varsity race, and the Christman Cup, awarded to the top Ivy League team.
Navy looks to defend the Jope Cup, presented to the school with the highest overall score out of the varsity, second varsity and freshman races.
Dartmouth's varsity eight boat and second varsity eight boat are both ranked fifth in the EARC poll, which determines seeding for the championship races.
The third varsity eight boat is ranked sixth, and the freshman boat is ranked 10th.
In the varsity race, Princeton University and Yale University are the early favorites to win the championship. Princeton, which holds the top rank, has been favored to win the race after narrowly defeating second-place Yale in their last race.
The Naval Academy, where Perry formerly coached the freshmen lightweight crew, and Cornell University are also ranked ahead of Dartmouth.
The Bulldogs have positioned themselves as the favorite in the race for the Jope Cup.
Yale's varsity eight and second varsity eight boats are both ranked second, and its freshman boat is ranked first.
For the lightweight boats, there will be two preliminary heats on Sunday morning, and the top three boats from each heat will advance to the grand finals in the afternoon.
The varsity eight boat is in a heat with top-ranked Princeton, Cornell, Harvard University and Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Dartmouth lost to Cornell in the regular season this year and defeated both Harvard and MIT.
The Big Green has not faced Princeton yet this season.
"We have a difficult heat, but if we row to our potential it shouldn't be a problem," Perry said.
The first varsity boat for Dartmouth's heavyweight crew has received a relatively favorable morning draw as a result of its No. 17 seed in the final coaches' poll.
Dartmouth's second varsity heavyweights are seeded No. 16, while the freshmen are seeded No. 11.
The first varsity boat will race the University of Wisconsin, Northeastern University, Navy, Georgetown University and MIT in the morning heat.
Brown University is the top seed in the event, with Wisconsin, Harvard, Princeton, Northeastern and Columbia University rounding out the top six.
The heavyweights hoped to upset a few boats this year.
"You always want to beat as many boats as you can, but we think we have a good shot at the petites, which will probably mean knocking off Georgetown and MIT," heavyweight captain Jamie Tansey '08 said. "We've been racing faster crews the past couple weeks, so we know what kind of speed we are going to be up against, but we've definitely gotten faster during the season, so hopefully we'll carry that into this weekend."
Dartmouth women's crew compete in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Sprints this weekend.
Dartmouth's first varsity women's boat is seeded sixth in the final seedings for the EAWRC Sprints.
Brown is the top seed, followed by Yale and Princeton. Radcliffe and Northeastern round out the top six.
Dartmouth's women's second varsity and freshman boats are both seeded fifth.
In its morning heat, Dartmouth's first varsity will face Syracuse, Boston University, Brown, Navy and MIT.
In the women's regatta,the top boats from the heat move on to the grand final, the second two boats move on to the petite final and the remaining boats go to the third finals.
"Beating our rank in our poll is always a goal heading into championship weekend, and I think we've gained the speed where we can give the top four or five crews a run for their money," women's crew captain Kate Mann '08 said. "We're just trying to focus on our heats right now, but I think we'd like to see all of our varsity boats make the grand finals."
The men's heavyweight and lightweight crews will also compete in the Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships, held June 5-7 in Camden, NJ.
The women's crew will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships, wh
ich will be held May 30-June 1 in Sacramento, Calif.
