It was a weekend of highs and lows for the crew team as Tufts competed in its second race of the season. While both the lightweight and the open women's boats took off against Wellesley, the men's boat hit some rough waters in its race against Boston College.
On Saturday, the women's varsity eight won their second straight victory, this time against the Wellesley crew. As they did in the April 1 race against the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Jumbos controlled the race from beginning to end. Tufts shot right out from the start, and after 500 meters, was in open waters, leaving the WPI behind to feel its wake. The team stayed ahead for the remainder of the race, ultimately winning by 12.5 seconds with a time of 7:18.6.
"We raced carefully," coach Gary Caldwell said. "Once we were ahead, we made sure to stay out and in control of the race."
The team was boosted by the return of freshman Bridget McElroy, who had been out with a persistent cartilage injury. She was back in the boats for practice on Thursday and Friday and raced on Saturday feeling significantly better.
The women's lightweight eight crew had more difficulty defeating Wellesley's second varsity eight but still managed to come out victorious. The Jumbos were even with Wellesley for the first half of the race, yet were able to dig deep in the second half to overtake WPI. Tufts won by 12.4 seconds in a time of 7:41.6 to earn its first victory of the season. But the team is still looking to improve.
"It is always good to win," sophomore Cecelia Feldman said. "However, we are going to work on stepping up the intensity of the boat."
Both boats can look positively at the win, especially in light of the fact that they lost to Wellesley at the same point in the season last year. Still, the team is trying to stay focused and driven, taking each week as it comes.
"Saturday's race was a good building effort from both crews," Caldwell said. "Every win is a great win, however, last season we lost every race after the first one. I am buoyed by the way we handled Wellesley, but I am sobered by the reality that each week and each race is a new one."
The men's varsity eight competed against local rivals Boston College on Saturday, and fell just short of victory. The Jumbos got off to an early lead, and were ahead by about a length at the halfway mark, but could not hold onto the slim advantage, and lost by only 2.4 seconds, with a time of 6:25.6.
"We started off well - very composed," junior Shane Black-Macken said. "At about the halfway mark we tried to make our move, the big commitment to get ahead and basically kill the other team. BC pulled back on us and during the second part of the race; they were faster and more focused. I think we surprised them in the beginning of the race and by the second half they had recovered."
The men's varsity eight is 1-1 and has battled inexperience as well as strong competition. Half of the rowers are freshman with little or no previous rowing experience.
"We definitely have to chalk this race up to inexperience," coach Ben Foster said. "We should have put them away, and it was inexperience that held us back. However, we have more races and with a little bit of practice and more experience we should do fine."
Black-Macken agreed: "It is a matter of learning how to race, staying as focused and relaxed as you can," he said. "Once you're ahead, you have to stay ahead. Most crews are not strong enough to come back once they've been passed, and that is exactly what happened to us."
Tufts has lost to Boston College the past couple of years and while the team came off this race with another loss, there were positive lessons to take from the defeat.
"I am disappointed with the loss, but I am pleased with the results," Foster said. "We were closer to beating BC than we have been in a long time. This team has a lot of potential, they just need to realize it."
Caldwell also knows not to count out this crew. "If they are not happy with the race then they can at least look positively at competing in the next race," Caldwell said. "They still have a lot of improving to do, but a lot of time to do it in."
The men's second varsity rowed the course as a row-over as BC did not show up on the starting line and was forced to forfeit. The women's first novice group lost to Wellesley 7:45 to 7:57, but the second novice group won, finishing at 7:58 as compared to Wellesley's time of 8:20.
Next week the Jumbos are in for a considerable challenge as they face Wesleyan, one of the best squads in the league. The men's varsity eight team was in the top five at Nationals last season and the women's varsity eight earned a silver medal in the New England championships and qualified for Nationals.
While Simmons College will also compete in the women's varsity open races, the Tufts' men will find themselves up against the University of New Hampshire, a team that is out for revenge, having been defeated by the Jumbos in the New Englands finals last year - a loss that kept them out of Nationals.
"This race is just as tough if not tougher than last Saturday," Black-Macken said. "There are not too many easy races left for us."
"Wesleyan is going to be significantly more difficult," Caldwell said. "This weekend will either show how much farther we have to go or how far we have come. If we do well, we will be able to row competitively with anyone in the league."
The races begin this Saturday, on the Charles River at 9:30 a.m. with the women's lightweight competing against Radcliffe.
