This weekend finally showed the bright side of what New England weather has to offer, and the men's crew team took full advantage, rowing to a strong finish on Sunday on the Malden River.
After a Saturday during which the Jumbos encountered problems against Holy Cross, Ithaca and Colby, Sunday brought new energy to the boats as the team competed against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Williams-Smith and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The men's second varsity boat won its race and the first varsity boat finished in second, behind only RIT.
Junior captain Ben Harburg said the team made significant improvements between the Saturday and Sunday races.
"In Sunday's first race, we got off to a much stronger start and maintained our lead throughout," Harburg said. "We were able to distribute our energy much more evenly so as to have a powerful middle half and sprint. We beat RPI and WPI pretty easily and lost to RIT by only a few seconds."
The first varsity team also won the Baker Cup, an annual award for its victory over WPI. In addition, the second varsity received shirts from each of the boats it defeated, including RIT, WPI and RPI, following the tradition that the losing boat gives its shirts to the members of the winning boat in any crew regatta.
On Saturday, however, it was the Jumbos who were losing their shirts.
In the first race of the day, the men's first varsity boat placed fourth, while the second varsity boat placed a close third, behind Holy Cross and Colby. The White Mules defeated Tufts' second varsity boat by only 0.4 seconds, 6:26.5 to 6:26.9. Harburg said the first varsity boat had problems from the start.
"In the first varsity boat, we had a rough time." Harburg said. "Our start was called back because we crashed into Holy Cross almost immediately off the line. The race was restarted and we had a very strong start for the first 1,000 meters. However, by the time we hit the final 1,000 we were all very drained and slowly allowed the three boats to push away."
Tufts' novice boat finished fourth in a time of 6:51.8.
The race took place in near-perfect conditions, with comfortable temperatures and calm water on the Malden.
"Overall, we had two beautiful days to row," sophomore Mike Abare said. "And fortunately, we were able to finish with a successful last day."
Next week, the team will head to its first regatta of the season not to be held on the Malden River. The team will row against Williams, Marist College (N.Y.), Bates and the Coast Guard Academy at Lake Onota in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
"It will be a good experience to prepare us for the New England Championships [on May 1], where we hope to make it to the finals," Abare said. "If we do that, we'll have a chance to compete for best in New England and possibly qualify for Nationals."
As the season progresses, the team continues to row with the strong, cohesive rhythm that is crucial to winning races. Right now, the Jumbos are focusing on advancing to the ECAC National Invitational Championships on May 7 and 8. With the strength they showed this past Sunday the Jumbos will have a good shot to improve its record this weekend and move on to the New Englands.
