In collegiate rowing, one race defines the season. The Eastern Sprints Championships is that race.
This Sunday in Worcester, Mass., the Big Green heavyweight and lightweight crews line up against other schools in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges for the race that determines the league champion.
"We're psyched for this weekend," lightweight captain Brian Crounse '94 said. "The Eastern Sprints is the race we look to all year. We're ready to go down to Worcester and make all that training worthwhile."
The Big Green varsity lightweights return to Sprints as the defending champions. With the gold medal in the varsity eight event, last year's lightweight squad also won the Jope Trophy, an award presented to the school whose lightweight crews score the highest total points on the freshman, second varsity and varsity races.
This year, the varsity lights recorded their first undefeated season in school history, along with a stunning defeat of Harvard University to win the Biglin Bowl competition for the first time ever.
As a result, the Big Green are seeded first at Sprints and clearly have the potential to repeat as Sprints champions, but Coach Dick Grossman said he believes that victory is not guaranteed.
"There are four or five crews that can win it with a spectacular race," he said. "We just need to do it ourselves."
According to Grossman, the key to Dartmouth's success this year has been the dedication of the entire squad throughout the year.
"The graduation of a strong, talented group last year meant people had to work harder this year in order for the team to stay at the same level," Grossman said. "Those who came back did just that and they're head and shoulders above where they were last year."
Regardless of rankings or predictions, the Big Green lights must finish in the top three during the morning races in order to qualify for the afternoon grand final.
"We've got a squad that's as strong, or stronger, than last year's" Crounse said. "Our goals are to win as many events as possible and to keep the Jope Cup in Hanover for another year."
In the heavyweight races at Sprints, victory is almost a certainty for Brown University. The Bear's varsity, second varsity and first freshman eights are undefeated, winning all their races by open water during the regular season. All three Brown crews are the top seeds at Sprints this year.
It is unlikely that any school in the EARC will be able to break the Brown dynasty this year. As a result, the real race will be for the silver medal and the Big Green varsity heavies are definite contenders.
"They need to row out of their minds and come from behind" in order to medal, Big Green heavyweight coach Scott Armstrong said. "They have a strong finishing sprint, so they'll hang in there during the race, then catch somebody at the end."
Unlike the lightweights, the Big Green heavies must finish first or second in the morning to qualify for the afternoon grand final. The varsity heavies are the fifth-seed and face Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University and Columbia in the heats. Dartmouth and Harvard should be the two schools that make it into the grand final.
Even though Brown is expected to win the varsity heavyweight title, there should be a tight race for the silver during the afternoon race, with Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth expected to fight for second place behind Brown.
In the end, the Big Green heavyweights and lightweights need to have their best race of the season during the grand finals on Sunday in order to live up to their tremendous potential. If they do, their performance at Sprints will define the 1994 season as one of the most successful ever for Dartmouth crew.
