The No. 2 women's crew achieved mixed results in its spring season opener on Saturday. In a tough battle with No. 8 Princeton and No. 15 Michigan on Saturday on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, N.J., the Bears settled for third in a tight varsity eight race before dominating the fours.
"I think everybody raced really well," said tri-captain Cristina Caligiuri '09. "We had some strong opponents, and it was great racing all day."
Brown began the day with a second-place finish in the freshman eight in a time of 7:03.3, 2.7 seconds behind Michigan.
The Bears turned their day around by cleaning up in the fours. The varsity four demolished the competition, finishing at 7:33.8, while the Wolverines lagged 5.1 seconds behind and the Tigers followed them three seconds later.
The second varsity four served as a showcase for Bruno's depth. Drawing from the strength of a large roster, Brown entered two boats in the race, sweeping the top two spots.
The first boat crossed the line at 8:01.9, followed 2.3 seconds later by the second boat, which held off Princeton by six tenths of a second in the most dramatic finish of the day.
"I'm so proud of the fours," said tri-captain Jessica Stage '09. "Our team did phenomenally in those races, so I'm hoping that their success will carry on in the next few races."
Bruno took second in the second varsity eight with a time of 7:00.3, 4.2 seconds behind Michigan. Princeton followed in third at 7:01.7.
Brown came out on the short end of a hotly contested varsity eight race to wrap up the day, in which just 5.2 seconds separated the three crews. Michigan cruised home with a time of 6:46.1, followed by Princeton at 6:49.3 and Brown at 6:51.3.
"It was disappointing, but I'm confident that our team will do well in the upcoming races," said Stage. "We have a lot to work on, but we have a lot of potential."
The Bears achieved solid results against two of the top 15 crews in the country, but said there is always room for improvement.
"Michigan and Princeton are great competitors, but we're hoping to put a lot of work in on the water and come back strong for the next few races," Stage said.
The Bears will travel to Cambridge tomorrow to face perennial-rival Radcliffe, as the Harvard women's crew is known.
"I think the whole team is really excited for Radcliffe this weekend," Caligiuri said. "They're in our region, and it's always a great race."
