Rowing teams end regular season with fast times on home waters
By Kyle Jazwa, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Monday, May 1, 2006
After the Big Green first varsity beat Cornell for the Baggaley Bowl, Cornell won the second and third varsity races.
Ending the regular season this week, the Dartmouth rowers went out to assert their skill and power in the collegiate rowing world. The women celebrated a historic weekend by winning five out of their six races, the lightweight men secured the Baggaley Bowl against a good Cornell team, and the heavyweights beat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but fell short to host Wisconsin en route to a second place finish in the Cochrane Cup.
The Dartmouth women put up a dominating performance on Saturday against Cornell, sweeping the races of the day. The good times continued after the boats crossed the finish line, as the team celebrated the 30 years of women's crew at Dartmouth with a banquet. The team also christened a new boat, the "Fast Eddie." Donated by Nancy Vespoli '77, the boat was named after Vespoli's father, Eddie. Afterwards, a celebration banquet was held to honor the 30 years of women's crew at Dartmouth.
The team wasn't distracted by memories of the festivities on the river on Sunday. Columbia jumped out to a quick start in the first varsity race, but Dartmouth fought back as both teams battled for the lead. Eventually, Dartmouth came through, winning by a boat's length.
"This whole weekend was a great show of power and speed from Dartmouth women's rowing," said Anna Sjogren '06. "[It was] an exciting way to wrap up the regular season."
It was quite a successful season for the women's crew team. Their first varsity ended the season with a 7-2 record, while the first freshman squad finished with an 8-1 record.
In an exciting race, the Dartmouth lightweight crew just edged out Cornell for the Baggaley Bowl on their home turf in Hanover. In the first varsity race, Dartmouth pulled out the victory, posting a 5:42.2 time that beat out the Big Red, which crossed the line after 5:46.6. Cornell had jumped out to an early lead, but the Big Green pulled even at the 500-meter mark. With 1000 meters to go, the Big Red led by just a seat. Dartmouth continued to put pressure on Cornell, eventually coming out with the victory.
However, Cornell was successful during the rest of the afternoon, winning the second and third varsity races, as well as the first novice eight race. In the third varsity race, Dartmouth fell by 2.7 seconds.
The heavyweight squad had a long trip to get to their race in Madison, Wis., where they had to deal with rough conditions on Lake Mendota. Facing both Wisconsin and MIT, Dartmouth hoped to close the regular season on a high note.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin was just too dominant. In the first varsity race, the Badgers recorded a 5:53.5 time that smoked Dartmouth's 6:05.7. MIT brought up the rear, finishing in 6:25.3.
Things played out in a similar fashion during the second varsity race as Wisconsin's 5:56.0 got it to the finish line well ahead of the competition. Dartmouth managed a time of 6:16.0 that was good enough for second place.
With all three Dartmouth teams wrapping up their regular season, excitement was expressed for the upcoming Eastern Sprints. The lightweight squad looks forward to three weeks of intense practice and preparation and hopes to make a big splash against some of the nation's finest crews.
"We look forward to racing at the Eastern Sprints and vying for an invitation to the national championships," Sjogren said of the women's team.