Venturing from the comfortable confines of the Malden River for the first time this season, the women's crew team posted its most disappointing finish in an otherwise strong 2007 campaign.
Sunday's races on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester pitted Tufts against strong competition from Washington College, William Smith, WPI, RIT and RPI, and the Jumbos got a run for their money in every single one of their races.
The first varsity boat finished second behind William Smith with a time of 6:59.59 to 6:52.50 and ahead of Washington College (7:03.05), WPI (7:05.21), RIT (7:07.96) and RPI (7:51.01). Tufts and William Smith started off neck-and-neck, but William Smith broke away from the pack early on and never looked back. Beating WPI, the first varsity eight earned itself the Brown Cup for the second year in a row.
In the other race of the day, the 2V and 3V boats had to face off against each other in a field that also included Washington College and William Smith. Despite low expectations entering the race, Washington College (7:24.60) outlasted the Tufts 2V boat, which posted a 7:29.60, while William Smith finished third in 7:37.39 and the Tufts 3V rounded out the race with a 7:53.40.
"Washington's coach wasn't really confident for this weekend," junior Laura Sherman said. "We maintained contact with them for almost the entire race but they managed to pull away in the last 500 [meters]. Going in, we knew that they were going to be a good competitor, but we were surprised by their strength."
The stiffest competition of this weekend's regatta, however, came on Saturday when Tufts was pitted against New England rival Colby. The Mules controlled much of the competition, as the Jumbos won only their third varsity boat race.
The first varsity finished third in its race with a time of 7:13.3, following Ithaca (7:07.3), and Colby, which finished at 7:12.0. Holy Cross (7:14.9) and Connecticut College (7:27.9) rounded out the bottom two of the race.
Like its race on Sunday, the first varsity boat kept the contest close until the last 500 meters, when Colby rowed passed Tufts and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Additionally, though the 2V came in last place in its race, with a time of 7:40.8, it finished just 1.2 seconds behind third-place Colby, which posted a time of 7:39.6. Holy Cross (7:27.0) and Ithaca (7:34.2) finished first and second, respectively.
"The 2V had a down and up weekend," Coach Gary Caldwell wrote in an email to the Daily. "I tried two different lineups, and the Saturday boat never really got going. It was rushed and short and just didn't have the confident look it had been developing."
The 3V boat was the only one to come out on top as it won with a time of 7:26.6, good enough to beat out Holy Cross (7:31.6), Ithaca (7:38.2), Colby (7:46.9), and Ithaca's 2V (7:50.1).
"The third boat on Saturday looked really good," Caldwell said. "The stern three of [freshman] Lauren Lanster, [sophomore] Kaitlyn Mula, and [senior] Morgan Glasebrook set a rhythm that was easy to follow and the boat fell into a pattern that was pretty awesome."
This weekend, the Jumbos will head back home to face Simmons, Wellesley and Smith. After having faced Wellesley earlier this season, the women know what they're up against. Their main hurdle will be Smith, a squad that has recently underperformed but has the potential to put together a strong performance.
"Smith, as far as I know, is not winning, so it's our chance to capitalize on our strengths and move in on them in all three races," Sherman said.
With the season moving into the championship stretch, the women find themselves in familiar waters.
"Interestingly, it's exactly the same place we found ourselves in last year this weekend, and we obviously made the right kind of progress in the next weeks to be a player at the end of the season," Caldwell said. "I think the basic building blocks are there for us to make the same kind of run this year if we develop some more good habits and increase our self confidence."
