The men’s and women’s crew teams began the northern racing season on Saturday, traveling to Worcester, Mass., for a four-team affair. The Cardinal men demolished Coast Guard, its only opponent of the morning, while the women fell to traditional powers Holy Cross and Mount Holyoke College while edging Coast Guard by 0.02 seconds.

Racing on the 2,000-meter Lake Quinsigamond course, the men’s varsity eight boat of Sam Hoefle ’13, Parker Cook ’10, Elliott Skopin ’11, Terrence Word ’11, Ryan Brill ’10, Spencer Hattendorf ’12, Gilder Keeler ’11, Trevor Michelson ’13, and coxswain Rosemary Ostfeld ’10 covered the course in 6:06.7, 6.5 seconds ahead of Coast Guard (6:13.2). Wesleyan’s second varsity eight boating (6:39.7) fell to the Bears (6:26.8); in the third varsity eight race, Coast Guard finished in 6:44.1, well ahead of Wesleyan (6:53.7).

The women’s varsity eight boat of Becca Schofield ’11, Emilie Kimball ’11, Catie Steidl ’11, Greer Dent ’12, Julia Mulhern ’12, Haley Sacks ’13, Christina Ermilio ’13, Claire Tradewell ’11, and coxswain Sami Pop ’11 covered the course in 6:54.09, behind Holy Cross (6:50.77) and Mount Holyoke (6:51.8) but just ahead of Coast Guard (6:54.11). Wesleyan clocked in 7:21.4 in the second varsity eight race, behind Holy Cross (7:00) and Mount Holyoke (7:08.6) but well ahead of Coast Guard (7:45.5). The Cardinals placed second in the novice eight race with a time of 7:50.3, behind the Mount Holyoke “A” boat (7:47.4) but over a minute ahead of Holy Cross (8:50.2) and the Mount Holyoke “B” boating (9:05.8).

Both teams hit the water again in Worcester this weekend, racing Colby, W.P.I., Middlebury, and Smith College, with the races scheduled for 8:30 a.m.