Jumbos look to build on solid fall ranking

With races scheduled against some of the best competition in the region, the Tufts women's crew has an exciting spring ahead. After a fall that included strong performances at the Head of the Charles Regatta and the New Hampshire Championship Regatta, the Jumbos are looking to post more strong times in 2004.

This spring's captains are seniors Nebulla Stephen and Magda Denes. Among the underclassmen expected to play integral roles this season are juniors Lauren Sessions and Katherine Lindy, and sophomores Jackie Stone and Maddy Carroll.

The team has the added benefit this season of being able to train in Florida over spring break. The warm weather will certainly be a welcome change for the women, but their time down south will not be for relaxation. Stephen and her teammates are most excited to be able to prepare for the season with as few distractions as possible.

"It's the first time we are going away to train," Stephen said. "So it is a really good opportunity for us to put all of our focus into practicing and forget about weather conditions."

At the end of the spring 2003 season, the women's crew team ended the season ranked 13th in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Div. III poll and it has the opportunity to improve on that number this spring. A convincing performance in last October's Head of the Charles regatta showed the team's intent to improve.

The Jumbos finished 16th on the Charles, American rowing's marquee event, which attracts large, competitive schools from great distances. Among those teams in attendance were the Universities of Louisville, Colorado, and Tulsa. Queen's University of Ontario, Canada, won the race with a time of 16:47.32, about a minute ahead of the Jumbos.

Tufts' other impressive showing came at the New Hampshire Championship Regatta, where it finished in sixth place out of 25 teams with a time of 16:51.39. Colby won the race in a time of 16:14.33.

Among the teams the women will race against this season are Bates and Holy Cross, two of the small handful that beat them in the New Hampshire Championship Regatta. The Jumbos will also meet Smith, whose team was also impressive on the Charles. Perhaps the most intriguing match-up of the spring, however, will be when Tulane makes the trip up from New Orleans to compete with the Jumbos on the Malden River, Tufts' home course, on Apr. 4.

Despite captivating regular season match-ups, the team has its sights fixed on May's New England Championships and ECAC National Invitational Championships, both taking place in Worcester.

"The end goal is to win and shake things up at New Englands, giving us a spot at Nationals," Stephen said.

The rowers open the season with a race against Worcester Polytechnic Institute at home on Mar. 27.