In this past weekend's third-annual Spirit Regatta on the Malden River, the women's crew team may have not taken home the Cup, but solid wins against top-tier opponents across all events made it a successful weekend before New Englands on Saturday.
Competing for the Spirit Cup, Tufts raced against Wellesley and nationally ranked No. 7 Smith. Against the No. 8 Wellesley Blue, the Jumbos' varsity eight boat fell by a 16-second margin in the 7:14.37-7:30.91 finish. However, against Smith, senior captain Kate Woodard led the crew to a close 7:34.06 finish, just shy of the Pioneers' 7:29.48 time. The dead-heat finish provides much-needed confidence going into one of the most important events of the season: this weekend's New England Rowing Championships.
"The competition is always stiff, and the three schools we competed against have really improved over the past few years," Woodard said. "Smith is ranked highly, and we're not ranked at all, and they beat us by only three or four seconds. That's a pretty small margin, so we were excited about that and how we weren't that far off from such a highly ranked team."
In the second varsity eight races, the Jumbos saw mixed results and tight finishes against the Pioneers and the Blue. In its first race, the second varsity eight squad began trailing Smith but used the inside lane in turns to gain a short lead that it maintained until the finish line. And while the Pioneers made a last-ditch sprint at the end of the track, the Jumbos kept up their momentum for a close 7:37.17-7:39.09 victory.
"In the second varsity race, we had the inside turn advantage, so even though we started behind, we were ahead on the turns and we had a couple feet on them by the straightaway," junior Bianca Velayo said. "We had almost a length on them and in the last 500, Smith started their sprint and they tried to make a move on us, but we pulled it out. It was really exciting."
While the second varsity eight's race against Wellesley ended in a loss of 26 seconds, the Tufts squad took pride in its efforts against Smith, which consumed most of the rowers' energy in the adrenaline-pumping finish.
"We could've had Wellesley, but our tank was empty, and it was hard to supply the power," Velayo said. "The weekend was still a success, though, and I think we left with positive sentiments about our capabilities and our performance."
For the novice squad, Tufts split the A and B boats into two events, with the A boats competing against Smith and Wellesley under the third varsity eight heading. Though the mostly first-year squad experienced one of its first losses of the season against the Pioneers in an 8:03.56-8:13.26 finish, a strong 18-second margin of victory over the Blue later that day spoke to the overall strength of the first-year rowers.
"Novice teams from other schools are often comprised of walk-ons and inexperienced rowers, but our squad is more than half experienced rowers," Woodard said. "It's definitely part of the reason why they're doing so great this year."
The Jumbos head to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester for the New England Rowing Championships, an event that can catapult top teams to the NCAA tournament. Though the regatta brings together over 36 Div. I, NESCAC and non-conference opponents, Tufts is setting its sights on just a few schools to hopefully make it to NCAAs.
"Our biggest competitions are Smith, Wellesley and Wesleyan and we're interested to see who comes out on top this weekend," Woodard said.
"We're out to get UNH, and I think that's attainable," Velayo added. "They're a fast crew, but I think we've been making so much progress that they're not out of sight. If we continue to race like we have been, I think grand finals is a legitimate option."
