Both the mens and womens crew teams participated in races over the weekend against Middlebury and Worchester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Both teams lost to Middlebury, and the mens team fell just short against WPI. But the womens team stepped up, reclaiming the Bernard Brown Cup after a three-year drought.
The women's crew first varsity eight edged WPI by a length to regain the Cup. The team finished with a time of 6:59.88 compared to WPIs time of 7:04.31. Although the Bernard Brown Cup is a contest between just Tufts and WPI, five other teams competed in the varsity eight race, which William Smith won with a 6:55.20 finish. Tufts finished second ahead of WPI, Clark and Skidmore.
In the womens second varsity eight, Tufts was third with a 7:25.5 time behind William Smith (7:11.6) and WPI (7:22.5). WPI also edged Tufts in the women's third varsity eight race, 7:38.47 to 7:41.19.
In the women's novice eight, Tufts (8:21.81) was third of four teams, behind William Smith (7:33.72) and Skidmore (7:58.27), but ahead of Clark (9:22.26).
A big factor in the womens team success this season has been thanks to its trainer and lifting coach, Mike Pimentel who has made great strides with the team both in and out of the water.
Mike [Pimentel] has really been a positive role model in our life; hes done wonders for the team, senior tri-captain Caroline Ricard said. Everyone really appreciates the value of winter training, and hes really created a positive cohesive culture [in the team, which] will be pervasive in years to come.
In the men's Bernard Brown Cup, WPI retained the trophy with a time of 6:12.06, placing it about 15 seconds faster than Tufts' time of 6:26.53. Four teams competed in the race. Tufts placed third while Skidmore (8:21.81) occupied the second spot, between WPI and Tufts.
For the men's division, Tufts placed fourth in second varsity eight (6:51.58) out of five, conceding to host WPI who recorded a time of 6:25.2. The Goats defeated the Jumbos in men's novice four as well, 7:35.5 to 7:47.05, in the sole two-team matchup of the day.
Although Tufts was racing on unfamiliar waters, Lake Ouinsigamond -- a much straighter, wider course than the one the team was used to -- conditions played a minimal role in the weekends results.
A race is a race, when it comes down to it, junior co-captain Krzysztof Danielewicz said. [The conditions] played a small part
The day before, both the mens and womens teams faced off against NESCAC-rival Middlebury at home, winning five out of nine races on the Malden River. The Panthers won the two first varsity eight races, but the rest of the Jumbos programs fared better, winning five of the seven starts.
In first varsity eight competition, the Middlebury women rowed an impressive time of 7:11.05, decisively finishing before Tufts' time of 7:34.93. The mens crew first varsity eight found a similar fate, rowing a time of 6:55.45, which left them over 20 seconds behind the Middlebury mens teams time of 6:35.27.
However, the men's second varsity eight showed resilience, recording a dominant win over Middlebury with a time of 7:06.73. Middleburys second varsity came in at 7:28.36. The Jumbo novice four also won its race, edging Middleburys novice four by more than nine seconds, 7:42.24 to 7:51.36.
[Rowing against] Middlebury was a lot of fun. We underestimated them at first and the first varsity team lost by a relatively large margin, Danielewicz said. The second boat stayed calm and controlled and just focused on what happened in our boat.
The top performers of the day for the Tufts women came in the third varsity eight boat, which was almost 13 seconds faster than Middlebury, crossing the finish line in 8:13.70 to Middleburys 8:26.80 finish.
The women's second varsity eight and novice eight also scored wins on the day. The second varsity eight notched a time of 7:51.90 compared to Middleburys time of 7:59.27, and the Tufts novice eight boat won by nearly two lengths, at 8:46.5 to 8:53.4.12
