By Ryan Cloutier, News Staff and Kristen McCleary, News Correspondent
The first freshmen boat had a strong finish at the Eastern Sprints, the annual championship for the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges, while the varsity boat struggled and did not advance in the competition.
The first freshmen boat took first in the third heat, beating Boston University, Columbia, Syracuse, Holy Cross and Georgetown with a time of 6:09.7.
In the Grand Final the freshmen Huskies took bronze, finishing with a time of 6:02.5. The freshmen team beat out Navy, Cornell and BU, while Harvard and Princeton took gold and silver, respectively.
The freshmen’s performance provides hope for the future, as seen throughout the season as they put together an impressive portfolio of wins.
The varsity team struggled all year, trying to come together and achieve the unity necessary to field a successful crew. That unfortunately did not happen at Eastern Sprints, where the boat finished fifth beating only Rutgers with a time of 6:00.1.
“We’ve really struggled as a crew to row together,” senior captain Lou Harwood said. “In this sport, if guys aren’t completely in sync with one another the boat will go slow, regardless of the strength of the crew. That combined with the fact that we didn’t have the explosive power like years past led to a tough season.”
The team had a glimmer of hope when the varsity boat finished second in the third final, beating George Washington, Rutgers and Holy Cross. They posted a time of 5:56.1, losing to the University of Pennsylvania by just under three seconds.
The crew team also fielded a four-man varsity freshmen boat for the Eastern Sprints, which achieved a second-place finish with a time of 7:01.9. The four-man boat beat Harvard, MIT and Holy Cross but fell to Syracuse who posted a time of 6:54.2.
Because of the varsity’s finish, the crew as a whole cannot continue to the International Rowing Association Championship Regatta. Unfortunately, the freshmen are left behind as well, despite their performance.
The four-man boat is advancing to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championship in Cooper River, N.J., June 2-4.
Women’s Rowing
The women’s rowing team ended its season on a high note at the 2011 Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges Eastern Sprints Championships in Camden, N.J. The four competing boats – three varsity eights and one varsity four – all finished strong in the last and arguably most competitive race of their season.
The third varsity eight boat had the most success and finished second in their heat, ahead of Radcliffe College but behind Princeton University. They advanced to the Grand Final, where they scored a bronze medal, finishing behind Princeton and Brown.
“It was very fulfilling to medal at sprints,” third varsity eight rower and freshman Margaret Bergson said. “Every team tries to achieve it, but in a field of 15 boats there are only three that actually do.”
Head coach Joe Wilhelm said although he was very pleased with the success of the third boat, he was not surprised at how well it did.
The first varsity eight, coxed by senior Rachel Buff, finished third in their heat, behind Yale University and Radcliffe, to qualify for the Petite Final.
The boat finished second behind Columbia University with a time of 6:42.9. The second varsity eight boat had similar success and finished third behind Brown University and Cornell University in its heat while finishing second in the Petite Final, behind University of Pennsylvania.
“I thought we raced well,” Wilhelm said. “Eastern Sprints is an extremely competitive regatta. Five of the teams there went to NCAAs and we had to race two of them to get to the Grand Final. We would have liked to finish better than eighth in the first varsity eight, but I think that’s where we’re at right now.”
The varsity four boat finished fourth in its heat, advancing to the Four A Petite Final and coming in second, two minutes behind Navy.
Lauren Terris, coxswain of the varsity four, felt the boat performed well.
“After our final, we felt really good and that we had put up a solid fight and showed Dartmouth and Columbia where we stood, but Navy popped out of nowhere,” Terris said. “We wish we had raced that way in the morning during our heats, because if we had we would have been in the Grand Final rather than the Petite.”
With Sprints, the 2011 women’s rowing season comes to a close. The Huskies graduate six seniors, including both captains, Jen Forbes and Laura Carroll. Forbes has been invited to train with the United States National Team in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“We had a lot of depth in the team this year,” Wilhelm said. “We knew starting off last fall we had a very large team and a lot of very competitive athletes that were going to push each other. The reason we’ve been so competitive this year is because each athlete pushes each other every day in practice.”
The team finished with a 9-7 record. Bergson said this was a good season to build on.
“This year was a great year of rowing and racing for our team, and we were very successful,” Bergson said. “I am positive that we will miss all of the seniors, but we are all definitely looking forward to next year.”
