Cornell opened the day with a victory in the novice race. The Big Red jumped off quickly from the start and slowly separated itself from the Big Green boat. Cornell crossed the finish line with a time of 7:07.4 to Dartmouth's 7:12.5.
Despite the strong showing in the first event, the Big Red took the backseat for the rest of the regatta as Dartmouth hit its stride in the next three heats.
The Big Green varsity eights stole the lead from the start and clocked in at 6:54.7, while Cornell finished the course ten seconds later with a time of 7:04.4.
Dartmouth's second varsity boat charged ahead of Cornell and completed the course in 7:08.4, with an eight-second margin. Posting a time of 7:16.4, the Big Red boat finished the race four seconds slower than Dartmouth's novice squad.
The Big Green had two entries for the varsity four race. The 'A' boat crossed the finish line with a time of 8:09.1, almost two boat lengths ahead of Cornell's crew, which finished in 8:22.1.
While the men's lightweight team prepared for the Eastern Sprints, the Big Green heavyweights sent entries to Boston and Chicago.
The varsity and second-varsity boats traveled to Blue Island, Ill., to compete along the Calumet-Sag Channel for the Cochrane Cup. The boats faced stiff competition from the newly ranked No.1 University of Wisconsin and the No. 13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After ascending to the No. 1 spot following their performance at the Stanford Invitational, the Badgers had their eyes set on another cup victory. MIT has also been experiencing one of its best seasons in recent memory.
While Wisconsin claimed a decisive lead from the start of the first varsity race, Dartmouth and MIT battled for the second-place finish.
The Engineers gained an initial narrow lead over Dartmouth, but the Big Green stuck with MIT and made an push early on in the course.
"Our strategy was to get off the line fast and then make a big push 650 meters into the race," captain Sandy Hull '09 said. "We wanted to sell ourselves and get an early edge on the other teams."
The early sprint allowed Dartmouth to move up on MIT, yet the Engineers responded, pulling a few seats ahead by the halfway point, leaving Dartmouth in its wake.
Wisconsin finished the course in 6:04.0 to MIT's 6:07.2. Dartmouth rounded out the field with a time of 6:16.0.
Despite the letdown, Hull said that the team took the results in stride.
"Wisconsin is one of the fastest teams in the country," he said. "I think the guys had a pretty good attitude and did what they could to step up."
Hull added that injuries and illnesses forced the squad to make a number of line-up changes in both of the boats.
"We've been trying out a decent number of line-up changes throughout the season," he said. "We thought we'd be able to race the same line-up, but with the circumstances, we had to make changes a couple days before the races. I think that so far, we've responded pretty well to that kind of stuff."
The Big Green also squared off against the Badgers in the second varsity race. Wisconsin mirrored its performance from the earlier heat, crossing the finish line in 6:14.3 to Dartmouth's 6:36.7.
The freshmen heavyweights competed against Northeastern University and Harvard, where the boats faced strong headwinds and chop on the Charles River in Boston, Mass.
The Crimson got off the line quickly, maintaining a two-seat lead until the 500-meter mark. After sticking with Northeastern for the first quarter of the course, the Big Green pulled away from the Huskies and began moving up on Harvard's boat.
Although Dartmouth was a half-length down on Harvard around the last quarter of the race, the Crimson picked up a few seats on the Big Green nearing the end of the course.
The freshmen posted a time of 6:26.9, about six seconds behind the squad from Harvard. Northeastern rounded out the field, finishing in 6:34.0.
Holding the same lineup, the freshmen have steadily picked up speed throughout the season, in preparation for the Eastern Sprints next weekend, where the crew will look to make it to the finals.
Hull said that the stakes will be high next Sunday as all the men's crews travel to Worcester, Mass., where the squads will get the opportunity to avenge their losses to powerhouse schools including Yale, Princeton and Navy.
"We'll get another shot to compete against a decent number of teams that we haven't beaten before this season," he said. "Will also get another shot at MIT."
The women's crew will next prepare for the EAWRC Sprints on May 17, held in the Camden, N.J.
