The Dartmouth men's and women's crew teams were both in action last weekend in the teams' final tune-ups before their championship seasons begin. The men's lightweight and women's teams were at home, as the men hosted Cornell University and the women took on Cornell and the University of Alabama on the Connecticut River on Saturday. The men's heavyweight squad traveled to Wisconsin to take on the University of Wisconsin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The men's lightweight team claimed the Baggaley Bowl after defeating Cornell in the first varsity eight race on a windy day in Hanover on Saturday. Dartmouth crossed the finish line in 6:04.9, almost six seconds ahead of the Big Red. Although the Big Green placed second in the second varsity eight, third varsity eight and freshman eight races, the team won the day's most important race.
The women's team did not fare as well, placing second in all four races against Cornell and Alabama. The first varsity eight race was the day's closest, as the Big Red edged the Big Green by just four-tenths of a second. Cornell won the race in 6:24.0 to Dartmouth's 6:24.4, with Alabama well back in third in 6:46.
"We were up about five or six feet for the first 500 meters, and we held that margin pretty much through the 800," captain Jamie Chapman '12 said. "It was an exciting race. We were hoping to maintain our margin in the second half, but obviously that didn't happen."
The cold and windy conditions were not ideal for racing, but Chapman said that the Big Green was undeterred by the harsh weather.
"It was freezing, but everyone has to race in that," Chapman said. "You just tough it out. It's no different than what we've had in Boston."
Cornell scored decisive victories in the first and second varsity four races, winning the two by a combined margin of 23 seconds. The second varsity eight race was closer, as the Big Red took the victory in 6:30.9 to the Big Green's 6:36.5. Again, the Crimson Tide were a distant third, crossing in 6:49.1.
The heavyweight men fell to Wisconsin in all three races on Devil's Lake in Baraboo, Wis. on Saturday. In the first varsity eight race, the Badgers edged the Big Green by four seconds, finishing with a time of 5:49.2. Dartmouth dropped the second varsity eight race as well, finishing in 6:15.8 to Wisconsin's 5:59.9. In the freshman eight race, the Big Green placed second in 6:05.0, just over a second back of the Badgers but well ahead of third-place MIT.
"We were really excited for the race," captain Joe Polwrek '12 said. "We went out, as always, really aggressive, and in the first varsity race, we got off to a pretty nice lead in the beginning. We held our lead for the first 1,000 meters. We ended up losing by four seconds, but we were really happy with how we raced."
Polwrek added that the result of the first varsity eight boat in Wisconsin will give the Big Green confidence moving forward.
"The character of our boat is to be really aggressive, and we showed that against Wisconsin," Polwrek said. "That gave us a lot of confidence to [continue to race aggressively]."
After a busy spring season, the Dartmouth men's and women's crew teams will take the weekend off from racing in preparation for some of their biggest races of the season. Both men's squads return to action May 13 at the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Mass., while the women's squad will race on the same day at the Ivy League Championships in Camden, N.J.
Polwrek said that the team will use the time off to improve its fitness ahead of the season's biggest races.
"We're trying to ramp up the intensity and the volume," Polwrek said. "We're going to fit some more practice in and find some extra speed leading up to the Eastern Sprints."
