This weekend the men's lightweight, heavyweight and women's crew teams traveled to the Head Of the Charles races in Cambridge, Mass., where they rowed against some of the nation's best competition at the largest two-day rowing event in the world.
The women's boat, which rowed in the championship eights race, finished 20th out of 35 teams, and consisted of coxswain Carly Rauh '14, Carin Carroll '17, Arenne Clark '14, Caroline Allan '16, Morgan Weller '14, Abby Stevenson '16, captain Anna Harty '14, Lilly Maguire '14 and Juliet Hollingsworth '14. The Big Green finished in 17:42.417, one minute and 17 seconds behind the winning boat, rowed by the Cambridge Boat Club.
Although the Big Green put forward a solid effort, Harty said the team can do even better.
"We didn't quite meet our goal, but we had a solid performance even after being slowed down by some boat traffic jams," she said.
The Big Green will use its performance to motivate success in upcoming races, including the regatta at Princeton University on Sunday, where it will race many of the same teams at the Head of the Charles.
"We plan to use our experience here to fuel our aggression," Harty said. "We were proud of parts of the race, but can improve on our aggression and consistency. Next weekend, we will see a lot of the same crews we were up against today, so it will be a chance to beat some of the teams that got away from us today."
The men's heavyweight team finished 25th out of 32 teams, with a time of 15:55.284. The boat was made up of by coxswain Julia Herringer '14, Bryan Rogers '15, Robert Moffitt '16, Ryan O'Hanlon '17, Nate Kania '14, Brendon Stoner '14, Luka Pejanovic '17, John Cresap '16 and James Esse '16.
The team rowed well together, and accomplished its goals for the Head Of the Charles.
"Our goals were to push ourselves to our limits and have fun," Esse said. "The Head of The Charles is a special event, one that you don't get to compete in may times. The excitement can often keep you from rowing your best race technically and mentally. The emphasis on having fun helps us to relax and move well together."
The massive crowds the race draws make for a memorable experience.
"It's a very unique experience in our sport," Esse said. There is a special feeling on the water, and you can tell how excited everybody is to race."
The lightweight men's team finished 12th out of 17 teams in the lightweight eights race. The boat, including coxswain Lizzie Aviv '14, Matthew McFarland '16, Dillon Rich '17, Max Gibson '16, Ian Delaney '17, Walter Banfield '17, Josh Sans '14, Julian Danziger '15 and Sam Morris '14, the Big Green boat finished in 15:43.922, 41 seconds behind the first-place Princeton University boat.
All three teams are back in the water at the Princeton Chase in Princeton, N.J., next Sunday. The regatta will be the last race for all three teams during this fall season.
Maguire is a former member of The Dartmouth staff.