"We were definitely all very excited going into the races," captain Emily Dreissigacker '11 said. "It can be really intimidating racing teams from all over the country who have a reputation for being really fast. It's also really hard coming off of a strong performance like we had at [the Eastern Sprints Championships] and building off that momentum."
Dartmouth's second varsity eight won the third-level final in dramatic fashion. The boat edged out Clemson University by less than half a second, finishing with a time of 6:34.45. The Big Green also finished five seconds ahead of Ivy League competitor Harvard University, which clocked in at 6:41.91. Stanford University won the grand title of the varsity eight level three race with a time of 6:26.76.
Dartmouth's first varsity eight finished 16th overall with a time of 6:40.63. Harvard and Princeton University won the tilt and the grand final, respectively.
The Big Green varsity four crew finished fourth in its third-level final with a time of 7:40.83. The University of California won the grand final, while Michigan State University won the tilt, with times of 7:09.60 and 7:28.50.
Rowers were disappointed with the team's results and expected to place higher overall, according to Ali Tercek '11.
"It was frustrating to have all three boats in the third-level final, but the [second varsity eight] made the most of the situation by winning this final," she said. "They placed the highest on our team."
League rival Brown won the NCAA Championship with second-place finishes in the varsity eight and second varsity eight finals.
The Bears barely edged out Stanford, and the two tied with 85 points at the end of competition. Brown won the championship on a tiebreaker, as it finished 0.05 seconds ahead of Stanford in the varsity eight race. The University of California, Berkeley followed close behind in third with 83 points.
Although the Big Green has made three appearances at the Championships since 2007, the competition still felt like new territory for Dartmouth, Hayley Daniell '12 said.
"I think it's a new experience every time," she said. "Since we didn't receive a bid last year, only a handful of rowers on our current squad had actually raced at the national level before this past weekend. The competition and level of intensity is a big step up from regular-season dual races or the Sprints, and that's something that's difficult to feel before you've actually stepped into the boat at NCAAs."
Rowers said they are optimistic about the team's future success.
"It's hard to focus on the high points when we ended on a pretty low point, but overall we did improve so much over the season and we had an amazing performance at Sprints," Tercek said. "We have a lot of potential in the underclassmen, which is really promising for the future of Dartmouth women's crew."
The Big Green will build on its performance next season, according to Daniell.
"It was definitely a season of ups and downs," she said. "We had a lot of tough dual races, a great Sprints and then a disappointing finish at NCAAs. Our performance was inconsistent but it was ultimately a good learning experience, which we can hopefully carry forward into next year."
