In only the second weekend of racing of the spring season, the men's crew team witnessed mixed results in a round robin racing setting at Malden River over the weekend.
The Jumbos hosted crews from Bates, New Hampshire, Wesleyan and Roger Williams on Saturday. Competition format had the teams racing in head-to-head matches on the Malden course, with the winners of the first races advancing to compete against one another while the losers of the first races did the same. The teams raced two varsity eight boats, a second varsity four and a novice four.
The Jumbo first varsity eight found the least success on the day, as the boat delivered disappointing efforts in both of its races. The crew finished well behind Wesleyan in their first race with a time of 6:27.99, and though Tufts improved on that finish against Bates with a time of 6:06.11, it was not enough to beat the Bobcats in the second race.
"I thought our performance was a little rough this weekend," said junior Robbie Bayless, who was a part of the first varsity eight. "I don't think we did quite as well as we were hoping to. There is definitely some room for improvement going on into the future."
The other varsity eight, while also posting a mediocre showing in its first race, did manage to show a marked improvement in its second performance. The first head-to-head matchup for the second varsity eight saw Tufts come up short behind Bates with a time of 6:34.16. The Jumbos improved by 10 seconds in their second race but it was not enough to overtake UNH, who finished just under four seconds ahead.
"I was in the 2v8 this weekend, and our row was substantially better than our race last weekend," junior co-captain Nahv Etedali said. "Even though we lost we were substantially better and we made the changes we were working on all week in practice so it felt really good to have our races."
While the larger boats failed to produce any great results, the second varsity four and novice four each picked up a win in their races. The second varsity four faced off against Wesleyan and destroyed its opponent by over 30 seconds with a time of 7:08.89. The novice four also won easily in its race against Roger Williams with a time of 7:26.63. For the Jumbos, who have been focusing a lot on their performance in the fours for this season, the races were a welcome sight.
"Practices are starting to feel good and guys are really applying pressure together," Etedali said. "That is a good sign and the fact that we are doing really well in the fours so far this season is good because that is what we are really focusing on in New Englands. The fact we can stay with and come out on top of all the competition we are seeing is a boost and provides us with a lot of confidence."
With the season just barely under way, it is still too early to read much into the first two performances of the spring. While the team had a successful fall and trained hard throughout the winter, the spring brings championship season and Tufts hopes it will be in top form by then.
The race schedule is only a month long with just two weekends remaining before New Englands, so Tufts does not have a lot of time to fine tune its mistakes before then. Still, the crew has seen improvements in practices and races that suggest it will be fine come May.
"I think things are going really well, especially now that we are in the heart of the season," Etedali said. "Practices are getting more focused towards that goal of the championship season, which is New Englands and ECACs."
The racing preparation for Tufts will take it away from the Malden River and its turning course next weekend when the Jumbos head to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. The team will face off against the quartet of Ithaca, Holy Cross and NESCAC schools Colby and Conn. College on Saturday.
Sunday competition will pit Tufts against WPI, RIT and Washington College. The races will be important for the team because Quinsigamond is the site of the New England Championships on May 3 and 4, so Tufts will have an opportunity to prep in advance on the championship course.
"I think this week in practice we will be pretty motivated to be practicing hard and really hone in on some things we didn't do well this weekend," Bayless said. "The races at Lake Quinsigamond are different because you go six boats across as opposed to here where you do two boats, and out there it is a completely straight course whereas the Malden course has several turns.
"So it is a little bit different style - a little different for the coxswains - and I'm really looking forward to it," he continued.
