Despite being ranked No. 12 going into the competition, the men's heavyweight varsity eight beat out No. 1 Brown University, No. 6 Syracuse University and No. 7 Northeastern University to win its heat, and qualified for the Grand Final. The team ultimately placed fifth in the Finals with a time of 5:39.343. Harvard University won the race with a time of 5:33.007.
"Saying we're excited is an understatement, definitely," captain Evan Greulich '10 said. "The team mood is ecstatic."
The men's performance marks the first time since 2003 that a Dartmouth heavyweight boat has made the Finals of Eastern Sprints.
"It was satisfying to surprise the whole League and the whole rowing world," Greulich said. "No one expected us to do what we did."
Leading up to the competition, the men's team focused on remaining consistent throughout the entirety of the race and building up its endurance, head coach Christopher Bordeau said.
"The field was unbelievably tight this year," he said. "There were probably 12 crews that could have been in the Grand Final, and that's rare."
Bordeau also added that it was an especially impressive accomplishment for the team to beat Brown.
"Brown is an outstanding crew," he said. "To even be in the ballpark of them is exciting, but to actually get across the line ahead of them just bordered on ridiculous."
Both Bordeau and Greulich agreed that the team's success was due to the hard work of each member.
"[A crew's] speed isn't just a function of the nine people in the boat," Bordeau said. "It's a reflection of the entire team."
The lightweight crew team also had an eventful racing day, sending two boats to the Grand Finals with the varsity eight taking fourth overall.
"We executed really well," captain Josh Patch '09 said. "I couldn't be more happy with what we did in our race."
The varsity eight took third in its heat to qualify for the Grand Finals with a time of 5:37.743. In the Finals, Dartmouth was able to beat the second-seeded United States Naval Academy and University of Pennsylvania. Princeton University took first in the lightweight Finals with a time of 5:41.149.
Patch said that the team's performance exceeded its expectations and that its morale is now high going into the national championships.
"Everyone's happy with their performances," he said. "It's been a great season and a lot of fun."
Greulich said the team is hoping to medal at the championships.
"We think we can go a little bit faster and get in the top three," he said. The women failed to qualify for nationals at Eastern Sprints, but the varsity eight made it to the Grand Finals, ultimately taking fourth place behind Brown, Princeton and Yale University.
"We came up a little short of our goal," captain Sarah Alexander '10 said. "But everyone put up a great fight."
The team still has an opportunity to qualify for nationals, as the League selection committee is convening on Tuesday to decide which additional teams it will send to the competition.
Last week, the women faced unexpected adversity when one of the members of the first varsity boat suffered from an injury.
"We had to do a lot of shuffling in the week before, but the team handled it really well," Alexander said. "We went into the weekend really positive and ready to give it our best."
According to Alexander, the team's goal was to qualify all of its boats for the Grand Finals. Despite the results, she said she is proud of how hard the team worked at Sprints and throughout the season.
"The [Eastern Sprints] league is really competitive," she said. "It comes down to luck of the draw and who puts together a great race on any given day."
Alexander added that the Sprints is a bittersweet ending to the season.
"It was nice to know that we gave it our all, and to see that the program has grown so much in our four years here is really rewarding," she said.
The IRA Championships will take place June 3-5 on the Cooper River in Camden County, N.J.
