While the Dartmouth men's and women's crew teams faced fierce conditions at Cornell University and at home this weekend, only the lightweight men's crew team was able to snag a victory over the Big Red, winning by a margin of six seconds. The women's team lost to Cornell and the heavyweights competed against the University of Wisconsin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at home.
Overcoming a stiff head wind, the lightweight varsity eight won the Baggaley Bowl this weekend against Cornell for the first time since 2007. The Big Red, which has been a formidable opponent in years past, came into the race ranked fifth just one spot below fourth-ranked Dartmouth.
"We knew that they were a quick team and that we had to pull out a solid race all the way through in order to win" captain Phil Henson '11 said.
Although this is the end of the lightweights' regular racing season, rowers said they are looking forward to the Eastern Conference Sprints in two weeks.
"Without an opponent in the League to race this weekend, we have to keep our focus internal," Henson said.
The women's crew team faced a tough opponent, as the Big Red has consistently had a strong and deep team. All of the Big Green's boats lost in their respective races.
Captain Emily Dreissigacker '11 said the first varsity eight "had a particularly frustrating performance," but added that she is "confident that it was not indicative of our true speed."
Dressigacker said the first varsity eight wanted to get a lead in the beginning of the race before they had to take an outside turn. Although the boat managed to accomplish this goal, in the second half of the race "things just sort of fell apart," she said.
"Cornell is a strong team and has been doing very well this year," Juliet Hollingsworth '14 said. "We knew we were going to have to fight for it."
The second varsity eight had the closest matchup, losing by only 1.4 second. The two boats were fairly even until the turn, when the course widened and the wind picked up. While Dartmouth struggled in the harsh conditions, Cornell managed to get its bow ball ahead by the end of the race.
In its second races of the day, the Dartmouth women's team faced the morning races' second place teams, including the University of Rhode Island, Iowa University, Duke University, Bucknell University and the State University of New York, Buffalo. The varsity eight, second varsity eight, varsity four and third varsity eight all beat their opponents in their respective races.
Wisconsin bested the Dartmouth heavyweights in every race on Saturday. The heavyweight varsity eight fought a tough race but lost by 1.5 seconds. Although the freshmen boat lost to Wisconsin, it beat MIT by over 10 seconds.
The heavyweights raced in the Connecticut River's fastest current since the 1930s, and Wisconsin's second varsity eight set a course record with a time of 4.47.08. All races finished in under five minutes.
Gerben Scherpbier '14 said the river conditions were so tough that the first stake boat sunk the night before the race.
"We did floating starts for all the races after the freshmen attempt to use stake boats failed," he said.
This season, the river has posed a greater challenge than in previous years, Henson said, pointing to rain and snow melt as the cause.
"The current has been moving very quick and irregularly, carrying a significant amount of debris along," he said. "The coaches and coxswains have been doing a great job of making sure we still get effective training."
Both of the men's teams travel to Worcester, Mass., for the Eastern Sprint Championships this weekend, while the women's team travels to Cherry Hill, N.J., for the same event.
