In this past weekend's races, the women's crew team found success across its varsity eight, second varsity eight and novice eight squads against a slew of competition in the two-day cycle.
On Sunday, the varsity eight boat won its third consecutive Bernie Brown Cup after edging the WPI Engineers by a five-second margin with a 7:11:67 finish. While the boat placed third behind William Smith and Skidmore, the crew, led by senior captain Kate Woodard, kept the race competitive by closing the gap that separated it from its leading opponents to mere seconds.
"We were racing in a head-to-head match against WPI for the [Bernie Brown Cup], and we won it again this year, so that was really exciting," Woodard said. "In that race overall, we placed third but were only a few seconds off from Skidmore and a couple seconds off of William Smith. It was disappointing we didn't win the race overall, but it was great to see how close we were to beating those other schools."
In the second varsity eight boat, a third-place Tufts finish in the 2,000-meter course was not ideal, but after coming off of a satisfactory race on Saturday, the squad took the 21-second loss to its nearest competitor as an opportunity to work off of in future races.
"We've never seen William Smith and Skidmore before, but we thought they were on the same level as us," junior Bianca Velayo said. "In the second varsity boat, our timing wasn't as good as it was on Saturday, and I think we didn't really row as efficiently and as together as we usually do. It didn't fit with our trend of rowing as one boat, but it was a learning experience … We've really improved from the previous races this season, in terms of speed and efficiency."
For the first novice eight crew, Sunday's race was just another check in the win column for an all-freshman squad that has yet to disappoint this season. In its race, the first novice boat iced Rochester Institute of Technology and finished at 7:16.6 with a five-second margin of victory over the second-place competitor, William Smith. With its depth and mix of skilled rowers and new recruits, the novice squad shows no sign of slowing down.
"The first novice eight won their race on Sunday, and they've proven to be very impressive this year," Woodard said. "Seven of the eight girls are experienced rowers who, in the past, would've been moved up to varsity, but this year we decided to create an all-novice team … This way, all of the freshmen are kept together."
At Holy Cross the day before, the Tufts squad took on top-tier teams like William Smith, Ithaca and the Crusaders, as well as NESCAC opponents Colby and Wesleyan. Securing a fourth-place finish at 7:19.2, the first varsity eight stymied any chance of a Wesleyan or Colby comeback by holding a 15-second and 19-second lead, respectively, over their conference foes.
"We had a great race on Saturday," Woodard said. "It was exciting to see that we are getting a lot faster. Williams and Ithaca should be in the final of the NCAAs this year, so it wasn't surprising that they blew away the competition. We weren't technically racing them, but they were placed in the same event as us."
In similar fashion, the second varsity eight held off its NESCAC opponents by as much as a 23-second lead over Colby by the finish line. With a fast break off the starting line and fluid rowing, the Jumbos were motivated to keep the competition as close as possible with the leading Williams, Ithaca and Holy Cross squads.
"Of course, we wanted to hold our own and beat Wesleyan and Colby, but we knew that it would be difficult to overcome Williams and Holy Cross," Velayo said. "I think we stayed in good contact with the other boats, and we had open water on Wesleyan and Colby from the beginning. We maintained that space throughout, and it gave us the energy and motivation to catch up to the boats ahead of us."
Coming up this Saturday, Tufts will celebrate Senior Day on the Malden River by hosting Wellesley, Smith and Simmons in the Spirit Cup Regatta. With New Englands on the horizon in two weeks, the Jumbos hope to get a last-chance look at some of their competition before one of their biggest events of the season.
"It's Senior Day, [University President] Larry Bacow will be there, and we're dedicating a new boat, so it's going to be fun," Velayo said. "The Spirit Cup is a great representation of friendship among the coaches and the stress on solid rowing in women's crew. The varsity boat and the second varsity boat are in it to kill it, and since this is our last racing opportunity before New Englands, it's about maxing out and seeing what we can do against other crews. We're excited, we're going to have a lot of support, and it's time to show up."
