When looking back on the women's crew team's spring season, it's hard not to be impressed. In fact, the most disappointing race of the Jumbos' season may not have been one they lost - it was one that simply never happened.
Last weekend, the women were set to take Whitney's Point, N.Y. by storm for their last regatta of the year, the ECAC National Invitational Championships. But winds were much too heavy May 13, creating whitecaps in the water and preventing most races from going beyond the preliminary round.
"It was really disappointing to get our race canceled on us, since we were in such a good position to perform well," junior Caitlin Gallagher said. "I think we would have surprised a lot of people. We came into it with our game faces."
Had the schedule gone according to plan, all three of the Tufts varsity boats would have gone to either the petite finals or the grand finals as a result of May 12's standings.
In its first race, the first varsity boat finished in 6:57.909, a time that put it in third place behind the University of New Hampshire (6:52.630) and Ithaca (6:56.822). In the semifinals, the Jumbos came in last with a time of 7:01.729 - behind Trinity, UNH, Mary Washington, Colby and Holy Cross - which would only earn them a spot in the petite finals.
The second and third varsity boats, however, would have competed in their respective grand finals. The 2V finished third in its race behind Trinity and Bates in the preliminary heats, while the third varsity boat did not need to race in preliminaries and would have gone straight to the grand finals.
For a squad that placed fifth at Nationals in 2006, the end to 2007 was underwhelming at best. Although the team did not get a chance to put an exclamation point on the season, the Jumbos completed a successful 2007 campaign nonetheless.
They started out especially strong, breezing through the season's first four weekends, which geared them up for the more competitive heats later in the spring.
"We started off incredibly strong this year and had a great record at the beginning of the season," senior Allison Javors said. "As we got deeper into the season, we started to face our tougher competition and had a little more trouble at times."
Despite the Tufts' struggles in the latter part of the season, it is still proud of the strides it made this spring, which can be primarily attributed to team chemistry and work ethic.
"We really have come together these past few weeks and have figured out what we needed to do to succeed," Gallagher said. "I think we came into the season with a 'go for it' attitude, and we stayed true to it."
This season, the women have noticed the benefits of the intense training program implemented by trainer Mike Pimentel.
"We've developed this winter training program with Mike, and every year he develops this lifting program, and this year he definitely took it to another level," Gallagher said. "This has been the most intense level by far. We see him basically every week of the season and have been for the past three years, and it has definitely created a huge change in the team."
In addition to always being physically prepared, the team also had the fortune of a wealth of seniors leading the program. The first varsity boat alone is graduating five seniors - co-captains Airlia Esworthy and Faith Hester, as well as Kristine Shoemaker, Morgan Glasebrook and Emily Wark.
"These girls are my family," Javors said. "They are the people who will see you at your absolute best and your absolute worst, and it will be incredibly hard not to see their faces every morning next year. We all have such a special bond, and I know that the friendships I've made on the team will last a lifetime."
To fill the shoes of their departed seniors, the remainder of the Jumbos have elected two new captains, Gallagher and rising senior Sara Douglass, to take the reins.
"It's a huge honor," Gallagher said. "I'm really excited to see what we can do. I think we have a lot of potential next year, and we'll have an awesome class."
In addition to next year's captains, the team will receive an influx of senior talent in the fall, as much of its junior class returns from abroad. Rising seniors Leah Koeppel, Jane Case and Julie McCarthy are all returning, and the three should add nicely to the already-stacked roster of the 2007-08 Jumbos.
"While it will be incredibly hard to leave the team behind, the graduating seniors are leaving the team in incredibly capable hands," Javors said. "The current juniors will lead a great team next year."
