Crew rocks the boat at Amherst

Author: Stephanie Pritchard

After yet another week of practice on the ergometers, waiting for Lake Dunmore to thaw, Middlebury's crew team traveled to Amherst College for the "Big Three Regatta" against the hosting Lord Jeffs and the Bowdoin College Polar Bears. Both of the opponents have been practicing on the water for several weeks, putting Middlebury at a distinct disadvantage. Middlebury also had a few last minute changes to line-ups due to injured rowers Eric Hoest '07 and Avery LaChance '08.

Apparently, however, no one told the Middlebury rowers that they were at a disadvantage and their results show their determination and success. "Our varsity athletes showed lots of poise and maturity in handling the lack of on-water practice in the two weeks since returning from our Florida training trip," Coach Alex Machi stated.

With the loss of LaChance the women's novice team had a rough race in the eights event. The girls came back with a strong row in the four placing second, showing their ability to be flexible even under the stress of competition. The men's novice team placed first in the fours and eights races (Miwa Kosuga '08, Teddy Iobst '08, Chris Wearn '08, Julio Chong '08, Dan LoPotro '08, Ben Grimmnitz '08, Greg Judson '08, Joe Johnson '06 and Justin Scott '08) winning the Connecticut Cup.

The varsity men's team placed third in both their races to fierce competition from the other schools. LoPotro stepped up for the race to fill in for Hoest. Even though he had had no prior experience rowing with the varsity team, he "did a fantastic job" according to Machi.

The women's varsity team had another extremely successful day placing first and third in the second fours race. The first boat (coxswain Camden Burton '06.5, Anna Eisenstein '07, Emily Dawson '08.5, Molly Vaughn '06, and Rebecca Hollewijn '07) began with a powerful race start and lead the race from the first five strokes right to the finish line. The second boat (Devyn Young '07, Alison Lange '06, Lauren Nazarian '07, Beth Chatelain '07 and Katie Devine '06) pulled ahead of the Amherst boat early in the race and fought to catch Bowdoin who was only a few feet ahead.

The varsity women's eight competed in what the Amherst coach called "the race of the day." Returning from a victory last weekend at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, coxswain Burton lead Sara Hayes '05, Emily Loesche '05, Miko Heller '07.5, Eisenstein, Kathryn Babin '07, Dawson, Vaughn and Hollewijn to their second straight win over Bowdoin. Burton said that the race "was a case in which one really saw how much heart goes into crew, with every rower truly giving their all. [It was] honestly the most competitive race I've ever experienced." Middlebury saw Bowdoin begin their final sprint with 200m and challenged their speed, answering with their own sprint that was truly remarkable considering that each of the women had already raced earlier in the day. Middlebury pulled ahead of Bowdoin on the last few strokes of the race and won by only 0.3 seconds.

"Taking Bowdoin's women in the varsity eight was particularly telling," said Machi. "As this one was a battle the entire length of the course, with both boats slugging it out side by side all the way. That our ladies hung on and managed to push out in front was a great testament to their desire to earn a berth at both the New England and the ECAC Championships this year." With Lake Dunmore now more liquid than ice, the team will begin their 5 a.m. practices under the sunrise to prepare to compete next week in Saratoga against Skidmore and Hobart-Williams Smith.