The Packard Cup is the last cup race at Dartmouth for the team's 10 seniors, four of whom are in the first boat lineup over the weekend. Dartmouth is currently ranked No. 15 in the country, while Syracuse enters the race at No. 8 in the latest US Rowing Collegiate Poll. At No. 15, the Big Green is currently the seventh best team in the Ivy League, with only No. 16 Columbia University sitting in a lower position. Dartmouth currently sits 18.3 seconds behind No. 1 University of Washington in the rankings, as the poll attempts to measure the relative speed of each boat.
Both the Big Green and the Orange are coming off of strong performances at the EARC Sprints Championship. Dartmouth competed well, placing sixth in the Petite Final, in which all the teams finished within four seconds of the leader.
"We had a good race this past weekend, and we're looking forward to carrying the momentum into this race," Matt Gallira '12 said. "A good performance against Syracuse will show that our efforts last week were not a fluke."
After its performance last week, the Big Green was invited to compete in the IRA National Championships May 31-June 2 in Camden, N.J. This marks the 14th consecutive year that the heavyweight crew team has made it to the national championship.
The Orange made it to the Grand Final last week at the EARC Sprints and finished sixth.
"We are looking at the IRA Championships foremost obviously, but it's good to have a race against strong competition in Syracuse," Max Goldberg '12 said. "As a team, we are all looking for a strong performance to prepare ourselves."
The seniors on the team are looking forward to their last race on the Connecticut River when they represent Dartmouth over Green Key.
"We've had guys that just made the first boat this year and guys that have been here for three years," Gallira said. "It means a lot to all of us to end our regular season at Dartmouth with a cup race."
Goldberg said that because races are so short, it is important that the rowers savor every moment.
"You only get so many six-minute races throughout the season in the spring," Goldberg said. "You are always cherishing and taking advantage of every opportunity that the season gives you because they are few."
Dartmouth has traditionally finished the season strong and will look to pull an upset against Syracuse on Sunday. Gallira said the team's slow starts and strong finishes in recent years are attributable to the fact that it has less preparation time in the beginning of the year.
"With the Dartmouth winter, we have to wait longer before we can get out on the water and get that necessary training," Gallira said. "We get into a groove finally at the end of the year and tend to surprise most teams."
Dartmouth will compete against the best teams in the country at the national championships. But ahead of that, the Big Green is looking for yet another strong finish as the regular season wraps up in Hanover this weekend.
The races against Syracuse on the Connecticut River begin at 9 a.m. with the third varsity four race. The freshman eight race begins at 9:15 a.m., followed by the second varsity eight at 9:30 a.m. The first varsity eight concludes the event at 9:45 a.m.
