The women's crew program at Tufts soared to new heights in 2005, as the team was recently selected for an at-large bid to the Div. III NCAA Championships for the first time since the tournament's creation in 1997.
The race will take place May 27-29 in Sacramento, California, and Tufts will be among only eight schools participating in the race.
"This is the biggest thing to happen to this program in a long time," coach Gary Caldwell said. "Being selected as one of the top eight teams in Div. III is a big deal."
The rowers were equally as excited.
"I was inexplicably happy," said senior co-captain Ashley Korb, who will be in the sixth seat on the boat. "After four years rowing here, and all the work that our boat has put in over the past year, the announcement was just fitting."
"We really were excited because we are still getting used to beating all these teams we thought were faster than us," added senior co-captain Loi Sessions, the boat's seventh seat. "The last two weeks, we have beaten many boats we lost to earlier in the season."
During the ECAC Championships on May 7-8, the Jumbos defeated Ithaca, a perennial powerhouse, and went on to finish in second place. At the New England Championships, Tufts won its heat and placed sixth overall, beating Mount Holyoke, to whom they had lost just a week before.
Caldwell has been very happy with the improvement of the team over the course of the season.
"We got off to a bit of a slow start this season," Caldwell said. "We were reasonably competitive at first, but we weren't doing well enough to merit consideration for Nationals. But at the last two races especially we've been improving our time a lot."
It is hard for the team to pinpoint exactly what has sparked the change.
"There are so many variables," Sessions said. "One thing I know is that we have gotten more effective at high ratings. We go down the race course at say, 36 or 37 strokes per minute when other people may be at 35. So what's been happening is we have been the fastest crew off the start."
"We're rowing the beginning at high ratings and we do it well so by the time everyone settles into the stroke rating they will have for the entire race, we're ahead."
Despite depth throughout the three varsity boats this season, the Jumbos' second boat will not be making the trip. The NCAA Selection Committee chooses the top six teams and two at-large boats. The entire Tufts team, including the second boat, could have earned a bid, but just missed earning a spot, probably having been edged out by Colby.
"The second boat really needed to perform well last weekend," Sessions said. "Unfortunately they just didn't get the chance because the second boat races were cancelled due to wind."
"We were just really upset that the second boat didn't get the chance to prove themselves one last time," Sessions added. "They've been having a great year, so given the chance, there was a real shot they would have done well enough to warrant a team bid."
The Jumbos hope the two weeks they have to prepare will shave off some seconds.
"A lot can happen in two weeks," Korb said. "So I am quite optimistic about our chances in Sacramento. Our boat knows how to deliver, and if we race our race, we will be pleased with the results."
Caldwell's expectations for the race are also high, given that the Jumbos have made such strides in the past few weeks. One major obstacle will be overcoming Trinity, the best team in Div. III by most measures.
"We know we are capable of a lot because we beat Ithaca," Caldwell said. "Trinity is very strong though - they're undefeated and it will be a tall order to beat them, but after that it is wide open."
In order to finish near the top, the Jumbos will need to continue to get high quality performances from the senior class, which Caldwell credits as one of the major reasons for the program's success this spring.
"We have ten seniors and they've been successful all the way through their careers," Caldwell said. "They've been extraordinary and served as guideposts for what it takes to be successful and they leave a great legacy."
Lizzie Martin, who will sit in the stroke seat, and Katherine Lindy, who will sit in the bow seat, are the two other seniors racing later in the month. Sessions and Korb sit in the seven and six seats, respectively.
"Many of the nine seniors have been here all four years," Sessions added. "They are all really looked up to. So there are multiple people setting the bar high in terms of work ethic, motivation, etc."
"Every senior on the team this year, regardless of their boat, provided a tremendous amount of leadership and all were role models for the underclassmen," Korb agreed.
This successful season marks a point of closure for the seniors, coming full-circle from the program's successful run during their freshman year.
The other members of the boat include sophomore Kristine Shoemaker in the five seat, junior Martha Dietz in the four seat, junior Daniela Fairchild in the three seat, junior Heidi Hauenstein in the two seat, and freshman Alison Ungerleider as the coxswain.
After Nationals, the team will attend the Henley Regatta in England on June 17-19.
