The men’s and women’s crew teams continued their strong spring seasons on Saturday with races against Tufts and Bates. The Cardinal men, ranked fourth in Division III, defeated both crews to improve to 6-1, while the women, ranked sixth nationally, defeated Tufts but fell to regional power Bates.

Unlike the earlier regattas, Wesleyan raced Bates and Tufts separately. The men’s varsity eight boat of Ross Heinemann ’09, Gael Hagan ’09, Charlie Weiss ’09, Elliott Skopin ’11, Terrence Word ’11, Gilder Keeler ’11, Parker Cook ’10, Ben Roberts ’09 and coxswain Jenny Moyer ’11 covered the 2,000-meter Malden River course in 6:24.1 in their first race, 3.3 seconds ahead of Bates (6:27.4). The men also soundly defeated Tufts, finishing in 6:34.0 to the Jumbos’ 6:54.7. Heinemann, Hagan, Weiss, Ryan Brill ’10, Word, Keeler, Cook, Roberts and coxswain Rosemary Ostfeld ’10 comprised the men’s varsity eight boat.

Wesleyan’s second varsity eight boat covered the course in 6:57.3, finishing about ten seconds behind Bates (6:47.9). The Cardinals’ third varsity eight finished in 7:26.2, well behind the New Hampshire novice eight (6:49.7). Wesleyan’s varsity four covered the course in 8:01.7, just behind Bates’ third varsity eight (7:58.7).

The Cardinal women first raced Tufts and soundly defeated the Jumbos. The Cardinals’ varsity eight boat of Elaine Lauriat ’09, Claire Tradewell ’11, Catie Steidl ’11, Emilie Kimball ’11, Becca Schofield ’11, Heather McCarrick ’12, Sofia Warner ’09, Beth Ogata ’09 and coxswain Sami Pop ’11 covered the course in 7:34.3, well ahead of Tufts (7:48.4). Wesleyan did not fare as well against Bates, as the Bobcats zoomed through the water in 7:02.4, while the Cardinals finished in 7:28.5.

Wesleyan also had two varsity eight and novice eight races, against Wellesley and Bates. Wellesley’s second varsity eight (7:41.0) finished 15 seconds ahead of Wesleyan (7:56.0), and Bates (7:44.5) fared similarly against the Cardinals (8:02.5). Wesleyan’s novice eight covered the course in 9:04.2, well behind Wellesley (8:32.7). Bates’ third varsity eight also defeated Wesleyan’s novice eight; Bates finished in 7:51.7, compared to 8:53.2 for Wesleyan.

Next up for Wesleyan is the annual Little Three regatta next Saturday. In addition to Williams, the women will race Colgate and the University of Vermont in Pittsfield, Mass. Amherst will not participate in the regatta this year, so no Little Three title will be awarded, but the Ephs will present a strong challenge for the Cardinals as they look to reclaim the Saratoga Oar.