Men's and Women's Crew | Women's team upsets No. 3 Bates

The men's and women's crew teams were both in action over the weekend on the Malden River. Both teams raced twice; the men's team competed against Bates College and University of New Hampshire, while the women's team raced against Wellesley College and Bates College.

The results were mixed, with the men's team falling in both its races and the women's team splitting its two competitions.

The women's team win over Bates was a huge victory for No. 11 Tufts, who toppled the team ranked third in the nation in its second race of the day on Saturday. Tufts had not fared as well in its first race against No. 1-ranked Wellesley, finishing with a time of 7:18.1 to Wellesley's of 7:04.1. Despite the uninspiring performance against the nation's top team, the Jumbos were unfazed for their race against the Bobcats.

"We brought a renewed focus on rhythm and blade work to our second race against Bates," senior captain Caroline Ricard told the Daily in an email. "After staying ahead through the turn, it was just a matter of not losing our heads."

Tufts defeated Bates, finishing with a time of 7:02.9 to Bates' 7:07.1. Tufts made its big push with almost 900 meters to go in the race, growing a deck lead into a full length lead with just under 500 meters remaining. Even though Bates rallied, Tufts was able to hold off its opponent with around 400 meters left in the 2,000-meter river course.

Nevertheless, members of the team saw room for improvement.

"We can always improve our race mentality," Ricard said. "Staying calm while bringing relentless aggression is a delicate balance, and we have a tendency to get excited when the race is tight."

The men's team did not have this same success against Bates. The Jumbos came up just short, finishing with a time of 6:11.1 to Bates' time of 6:06.7. Tufts also showed resiliency in its race against New Hampshire, but ultimately lost the race by a wider margin, finishing with a time of 6:31.1 to New Hampshire's time of 6:18.4. These two losses ended a three-race winning streak for the Jumbos and halted the momentum they had been carrying into the weekend.

"We lost both races, but I think we went a lot faster against those teams than we had in recent years," junior Peter Estes said. "That felt good to see."

Tufts has some improvements to make as it continues its season next weekend against Middlebury at home on April 19 and then against Rochester Institute of Technology , Washington College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute on April 20 on the Quinsigamond River in Worcester, Mass.

"Technique and timing, getting ... all eight rowers to sync up, are our biggest problems right now," Estes said. "If we can sync up and row as a unit better, then we'll do a lot better in the coming weeks."

That being said, the Jumbos are still excited about the upcoming races and the chance to prove themselves against other teams in New England.

"It looks like we're a lot faster than we've been in the past couple years," Estes said. "We've got a chance to actually do something pretty good this season, a chance to make a statement."

The women's team also has the same set of races next weekend when it takes on Middlebury at home on April 19 and RIT, Washington College, and WPI on April 20, also on the Quinsigamond River.

For the women's team, the weekend's races will pit it against especially challenging competition; WPI is ranked 10th in the nation, and Washington College is ranked eighth. Victories against both of those teams will give the Jumbos a chance to move even further up the national standings. RIT is also ranked 15th nationally, and will provide Tufts the opportunity to play the favorite.

"I am most excited to see how we match up against Middlebury and WPI next weekend," Ricard. "Each week we get a little faster, and the efforts we put into winter training are clearly paying off for all the crews."

Although the season is coming to a close, big races for both teams are coming up. The Tufts rowers are racing in the New England Championships on May 3 and then in the Eastern College Athletic Conference National Invitational Championships on May 10.