The Big Green men's lightweight crew faced the top-ranked team in the league and quickly pushed it off its pedestal, defeating a powerful Yale University squad in New Brunswick, N.J. last Saturday to win the Durand Cup competition. It was the team's second Cup win in a row.
Dartmouth's men's heavyweights and women's crew also encountered tough competition last weekend, recording losses to Brown University and Princeton University, respectively.
In the race for the Durand Cup, the Dartmouth lights held onto a lead over Yale and Rutgers University from the start to win with a time of five minutes, 50.2 seconds. Yale was 2.5 seconds behind the Big Green and Rutgers finished third.
"The varsity rowed an exceptionally strong race against a very good Yale crew," Coach Dick Grossman said. "We have the potential to repeat as Eastern Champions if we row our best race at the Sprints."
The Big Green second varsity and first freshman eight both defeated Rutgers but lost to Yale, while the second freshman eight finished first.
"The '97s showed their strength by dominating the second freshman race, but Yale's first freshman eight is a little more polished than ours right now," said Brian Crounse '94, the lightweight captain. "Given the '97s depth, I wouldn't be surprised to see some serious improvement in the remaining three weeks until Sprints."
In Princeton, N.J., the Big Green women lined up against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton, finishing second behind the Tigers.
Dartmouth's varsity was even with Princeton for the first half of the 2,000 meter race when the number-one ranked Tigers moved ahead for good.
Princeton crossed the line in a time of 6:46.49. Dartmouth finished second with Penn a close third.
In the other women's races, the previously undefeated second varsity recorded its first loss to Princeton while edging out Penn for second place. The first and second novice eights finished second to Princeton and Penn, respectively, and the third novice eight tied for third in its race.
On Sunday, the Big Green men's heavyweights raced Brown University in Providence, R.I. and found out why Brown is the number one crew in the country.
Dartmouth's varsity heavies are currently ranked fifth in the Ivy League, but according to heavyweight coach Scott Armstrong, "Brown is a level above us."
Brown, the defending champions from Sprints, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta and Nationals, dominated the varsity race, finishing 10 seconds ahead of Dartmouth.
"Clearly, the fastest crew in the nation right now is the Brown varsity," Armstrong said.
The Bears also won the second and third varsity races along with the first and second freshman events to complete the sweep.
This Saturday, the Big Green men's heavyweights, men's lightweights and women race in Hanover.
The lights and women host Cornell University while the heavies line up against cross-state rival, the University of New Hampshire.
"We're psyched to find out just who is the fastest crew in the state," Malloy said of the heavyweight races. "They are a big state school - a real up and coming program and looking for the upset. We don't plan on giving it to them."
The Big Green lights race Cornell, then the varsity travels to Cambridge, Mass., to race Harvard University for the Biglin Bowl on Sunday.
"We were definitely psyched to knock off top-seeded Yale," Crounse said. "Now we have to concentrate on pushing ourselves so that we stay in front."
Dartmouth has never defeated Harvard during the regular season in the competition's 52 year history, but the varsity lights plan on ending this losing streak in dramatic fashion on Sunday. With their victory over Yale, the Big Green varsity lights were unanimously ranked first in this week's coaches' poll.
The women have their first and only home race of the season when they face Cornell. This weekend marks the last weekend of racing for women's crew before Eastern Sprints.
"This weekend should be a real duel," Women's Coach Barb Kirch said. "Both Cornell and Dartmouth have beaten the Penn varsity by 0.1 second. We need all the loyal and loud fans we can have for our only home race."
The best place for spectators on Saturday is at the finish line, which is located behind the Chieftain Motel on Route 10 heading toward Lyme.
