Tufts downs Bates and UNH, stomped by Wesleyan

On a picturesque day with perfect rowing conditions, both the first and second boats won exciting races but lost to NESCAC rival Wesleyan.

With a few changes in personnel, Tufts looked like it might row at a faster count and be better prepared to take on Wesleyan, a team whose heavyweight boat is ranked fifth in New England.

Freshman Tim Pineau, who sat in the first boat against BC and Trinity last week, switched into the stroke position to steady the second boat, and junior captain Robert Goldstein was moved into the first boat for the Jumbos.

Despite the changes, however, Wesleyan still managed to get the best of the Jumbos.

The day couldn't have started any better for the first varsity squad. With the calm waters and slight crosswinds not posing a problem, the team managed to come from behind and defeat the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in a close-fought race.

The two crews started the race evenly, and UNH pulled ahead at about the 600 meter mark. UNH maintained a sizable lead until the 1500 mark, but once the Jumbos crossed that point, they picked up their pace and started to gain water.

Tufts pulled even with about 100 meters to go, and by the time the boats crossed the 2000 meter finish line, Tufts had its first lead of the race, and an impressive victory.

"We were really pleased about that comeback," Goldstein said. "It really shows a lot about our crew to be able to pull from behind after being down so much. We now know what we are capable of."

Tufts drew an unfortunate starting time for its second contest, and within twenty minutes of beating UNH was back on the water for its race against its NESCAC foe.

Wesleyan jumped out to a quick lead, and maintained it throughout the race, without much competition.

The Jumbos looked tired, and, without much gas left in their tanks, lost by over ten seconds.

Wesleyan, which had barely been tested in its first race, easily outstroked the Jumbos, and Tufts was handed its second conference loss in two weeks.

"[Wesleyan] raced against Bates first, and just coasted the whole way," freshman Ben Tarshis said. "It didn't even look like they were trying [in their first race]."

"We just didn't have anything left," Goldstein said. "We put it all on the line against UNH, but we know we'll get another shot at Wesleyan."

The story was somewhat similar for the men's second boat, which suffered a tough loss to an undefeated Wesleyan two boat in their first outing, and then crushed Bates an hour later.

Wesleyan jumped ahead at the start, and when Tufts tried to make its move, the Cardinals proved too much for the surging Jumbos.

"We got off to a very poor start against Wesleyan, and then got closer, but when we tried to inch up at the end, they just pulled away," junior Andrew Mueller said. "This week's race was a lot less technically sound than last week's, although it should tighten up when we stop moving people [in between boats]."

Against Bates, the Jumbos looked much more composed, and finally started the race well.

With a large lead after only a few minutes, Tufts maintained a steady stroke count and easily cruised to a half minute victory.

However, the huge margin was not enough to overshadow the fact that the crew team had just lost to Wesleyan in yet another close race.

"A race like that is a real confidence booster, but we really need to start winning the close ones," Pineau said. "Losing by a seat is almost worse than losing by a minute, because we know that kind of race should have been ours. We could have won it."

The third boat was the only one that was undefeated on Saturday. It handily outstroked a freshman team from UNH, and destroyed a combination team from UNH and Bates.