After a somewhat disappointing finish at the Head of the Charles, the Boston University women’s crew team received only a slight vindication at this past weekend’s Princeton Chase, sweeping the pairs races but coming up short again in the eights and fours.
“I was disappointed about the Chase in some respects,” said BU Coach Holly Hatton. “We did extremely well in the pairs, but we want to see the eight go faster.”
Of the four BU pairs, two took first and second and the others finished fifth and sixth.
The first eight, however, came in sixth place at 15:42.20, almost a full minute behind the first place Princeton boat. The other eights came in 20th and 27th at 16:28.44 and 16:51.23, respectively.
The discrepancies between the pairs and the eight came as a huge surprise because the pairs were made up of the same eight rowers in the varsity eight.
“The pairs indicated that as an eight we should go faster,” said junior Kara Eiber.
The fours fared even worse. The first four finished 21st, pulling a 17:53.90. The other four rowed at 18:17.68 securing a 30th place title.
Many of the shortcomings were attributed to being generally worn out. With so many races so close together, the team had been battling soreness and tired muscles for the past few weeks.
“I think we were tired,” said senior Freddie Garnier. “That’s the thing about the fall season. We race every weekend and put a lot of hours in and they’re long races.”
Junior Dianna Bennett said, “The results were a little disappointing. It’s kind of part of scheduling. We’d had a week of 5:30 practices and were all a little fatigued.”
In fact, the seniors had raced at the Head of the Schuylkill the day before the Princeton Chase.
“[The seniors] were getting pretty tired,” Hatton said. “Having raced that race didn’t help them be at their best for the next day. They know it. They felt flat.”
Although the Princeton Chase had similar results, the recent Head of the Charles races had a much better reception with the team.
The eight finished 13th out of 47 at the Head of the Charles, and the four finished 14th out of 33.
The standout again at the regatta was the third and final boat at the Head of the Charles, the experienced novice eight, which finished ninth out of 46 boats at 18:40.12.
Hatton said, “We’re very excited about them [the recruited freshmen]. I think we’re going to look at them closely and watch to possibly put some of them in the varsity four.”
These decisions, she said, will be made just before spring season.
“I think the results were a little disappointing, but I think it was our best race so far this fall,” Bennett said. “We’re very competitive and have a solid rhythm throughout the race.
“As a group, I think they felt it was one of their best races. We still need to find some speed, but technically I think we really did very well,” Bennett said.
Garnier agreed, saying, “I thought it was a strong showing. I thought we had a lot of heart. We like to go out there and prove it’s our river.”
The competition found at the Princeton Chase was also similar to the Head of the Charles, which was why the weekend’s results were so disheartening for the team.
Eiber said the race was “with some of the top-ranked schools––some of the same people we saw at the Head of the Charles and … we were in a tight group with at the Head of the Charles. It was our second chance at some of those boats. We learned a lot, but it wasn’t what it needed to be.”
“Virginia really took off and dusted us at the Chase,” Hatton said. “We had been close to them at the Head of the Charles.”
Eiber said, “I think we came away with mixed feelings about the row. We weren’t really upset about it, but we aren’t going to have another chance at competing against the same teams so it wasn’t the way we wanted to end that.”
Now that both the Princeton Chase and Head of the Charles are over, the women’s crew team is turning their sights on the last race of the fall season, the Foot of the Charles, scheduled for Nov. 17.
Garnier said she is looking for the improvement to come in the eight.
“I guess I’ll never be satisfied until we’re in medals. I’m waiting for us to get in the top five,” she said.
“We’re getting focused for the Foot,” Garnier said. “The last race of the fall is the time to scare the other teams. It’s good for us going into winter training too. It gets long. It’s nice to come out of the racing season pumped and excited for training.”
Eiber said it best: “We’re looking to end the season with a bang.”
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