The Dartmouth men's and women's crew teams have a lot to look forward to this spring. All three Big Green teams were in action on the road this past weekend. The men's heavyweight team fell to Yale University in a tough battle for the Olympic Axe, while the men's lightweight team came out with a victory against the University of Delaware. The women's team captured the Class of 1985 Cup for the first time since 1998 after winning the first varsity eight against Yale and Boston University.
The heavyweight men fell to a competitive Yale team, which defeated Dartmouth in all three races. In the first varsity eight, Yale beat the Big Greem by a margin of six seconds, 5:30.7 to 5:36.9. The second varsity eight and novice eight races were not as close, as the Bulldogs prevailed by 10 and nine seconds, respectively.
Despite coming up short, the heavyweight team has a lot to be pleased about, according to captain Joseph Polwrek '12.
"I'm proud of our efforts this past weekend," Polwrek said. "All of our boats raced hard, and we have a lot to take away from the weekend."
Polwrek said that both varsity boats got off to a slow start but were able to bounce back and give Yale a fight.
"We got a little out of line to begin the race," Polwrek said. "Luckily, we were able to stay in the races and hang on to the margins."
Despite the loss, Polwrek said he feels confident that the team is headed in the right direction.
"We are going to continue making changes and improvements," he said. "I think we have done a good job gaining speed throughout the course of the spring. Everyone is playing tough, and I hope we can do that in our performance next weekend."
The heavyweight squad comes back to the Connecticut River to take on Boston University and Rutgers University on Saturday in Hanover. The three teams will be competing for the Bill Cup.
The men's lightweight team started its season on a solid note despite harsh weather conditions, defeating Delaware on Lake Lillinonah in New Milford, Conn. Dartmouth won three of the four races, emerging victorious in the first and second varsity eight races as well as the freshman four. The Big Green dropped the freshman eight race.
Captain Ian Accomando '12 said it felt good to start the season with a win and that the beginning of the race brought a palpable excitement.
"I think the first 1,000 meters were the most electrifying," Accomando said. "Right before the race, anticipation was building up. We wanted to get off to a good start."
The Big Green got off to a slower start than the Blue Hens in both the varsity races, but Dartmouth's ability to push through in the middle of the race set the tone for the victory.
Prior to the race, the lightweight team worked on rowing long distances on the choppy Connecticut River to prepare for imperfect conditions, allowing the Big Green to battle in the rough water on Saturday, according to Accomando.
"The weather was not foreign territory to us," he said. "We have raced in similar conditions before so were able to keep our composure and stay calm."
The lightweight team races away from home next weekend as it faces Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. Accomando said the team is extremely motivated to beat Harvard.
"The senior class has never beaten Harvard, so it would be great if we can finally beat them," Accomando said.
To do so, Accomando said the team must put together a better race than it did against Delaware and show improvement by rowing a more complete race from start to finish.
The women's team reclaimed the Class of 1985 trophy after winning the first varsity eight race against Yale and Boston University on Saturday. The race came down to a photo finish between the Big Green and the Bulldogs, as both teams finished with an identical time of 6:22.8. Dartmouth came up short in the second varsity eight and in both varsity four races. Hayley Daniell '12 and Jamie Chapman '12 said they had mixed feelings about the team's performance.
"Our team's performance at Yale wasn't what we were hoping for," Chapman said. "It was great for the varsity eight to win, but the depth of our team was not apparent across the races."
Daniell said the most exciting part of Saturday's races was the finish of the first varsity eight race.
"Yale was about six or seven seats up on us coming into the last 500 meters," Daniell said. "Our crew sprinted back through them to barely edge them out. Most of us actually thought that we had lost, but after extensive video review, the officials determined that we had won by just a few inches."
Daniell said she believes there are still some improvements to be made.
"We're looking to find more speed in all boats and to sharpen up our rowing since we'll be facing some tough opponents and will likely be seeing some close racing in the coming weeks," she said.
The women's team will battle Radcliffe (Harvard) and Syracuse University for the O'Leary Cup next weekend on the Charles River in Boston. Daniell said that Radcliffe is the team to watch because racing across the Ivies has been tight throughout the season.
