Women Sweep New Englands, Win Overall Points Title
WORCESTER, MA – Extending their unbeaten streak yet another week, the Williams women’s crew swept the 1V, 2V, and 3V races, in addition to the two varsity four races, at the New England Championships to win the women’s team point trophy, as well as the overall team point trophy with the Williams men.
The second varsity four (2V4) opened afternoon grand final racing with a seven-boat race, and faced off against NESCAC opponents Connecticut College (2 boats), Bowdoin, and Amherst. Despite being seeded behind Conn College A, the Ephs were confident and with a lineup change adding to their boat speed sprinted off the line and settled into the race, holding even with Bowdoin, and dropping both Conn College boats behind. Just 300 meters into the race, Williams committed to a strong surge and began taking water on Bowdoin, increasing their margin all the way to the finish where they emerged the with a nine-second victory (8:16.4).
“It was our first race in that line up,” said coxswain Liz Zhu mp;rsquo;11, “but it was a great way for our boat to end the season.” Conn College A (8:25.3) surged ahead of Bowdoin (8:29.5) to take second, leaving the Polar Bears in third.
Minutes later, in a near repeat of the 2V4 race, the varsity four (V4) lined up in lane three, between Conn College in lane two and Bowdoin in lane four. A strong start left Williams and Bowdoin even and trading seats in the early minutes of the race. With 500 meters down, Williams assumed the lead for good, but Bowdoin kept contact.
“Bowdoin refused to let us get open water the entire time, pressing us all the way to the finish line, even though we had a lead early in the race,” said sophomore coxswain Becca Licht. Williams held Bowdoin to several seats down and finished with their bow ball in front, taking first place in 7:39.0, with Bowdoin close behind in 7:41.8. Conn College (7:48.9) took third.
The novice women, racing as the third varsity eight (3V8), left no doubt as to their speed and ability, taking the race with the largest margin of victory by any Williams crew at the regatta. Racing in lane two, between Wellesley (lane one) and Trinity (lane three), the 3V8 blew the race wide open with only 400 meters down, taking a decisive lead over the field.
“Going into the grand final, we were aware that our goal would be to post as fast a time as possible,” said coxswain Fiona Wilkes ’12. With time in mind, the Ephs sped to the finish, crossing the line in 7:04.6, a time competitive with many of the higher-level varsity races held after their finish. Wellesley (7:30.613) and Holy Cross (7:30.680) made a race of it for second place, with Wellesley eclipsing the bow of Holy Cross by just 0.067 seconds.
The second varsity eight (2V8), coming off a win over Bates the previous week and facing Trinity for the first time this season, took a commanding lead and never looked back, rowing to a ten second win over a hard charging Holy Cross crew. As has been the case with most Williams boats, the Ephs, out of lane one, took the lead early in the race and flew ahead by the 1,000 meter mark, leading the field by a length. Williams crossed the line for the victory in 7:04.8. Despite losing to Trinity in their morning heat, Holy Cross turned the tables on the Bantams, with Holy Cross taking second place in 7:15.4. Bates snuck in for third in 7:17.7, leaving Trinity in fourth place.
The highly-anticipated finale, the first varsity eight race (1V8), closed out the regatta. Having defeated Bates by a little more than three seconds on their home course at Lake Onota last Saturday, and facing Trinity, the 2008 New England Champion crew, for the first time this season, expectations were high for an exciting and close race.
“We knew it that our opponents were going to give us a battle from start to finish and we raced accordingly,” said senior coxswain Allison Prevatt. The field came off the line, but early in the starting sequence Williams, Bates, and Trinity established themselves as the crews to beat and began making it a three boat race for the title.
Williams was able to emerge through the midpoint of the race holding a slight lead of two to four seats over Bates with Trinity slipping to as much as a length back on Bates going into the third 500 meters of the race.
“Having the last race of the day,” remarked six-seat Sam Smith ‘09, "we knew what the other boats in our program had accomplished and we were inspired by what our teammates had accomplished before us going down the race course.”
Going into the final 500 meters of the race and approaching the beach filled with spectators, Trinity quickly gained ground with a powerful move, cutting into the lead Williams and Bates held over them, but Williams responded in kind with a sprint of their own, stopping Trinity’s walk and retaining their lead over the Bobcats. Williams crossed the line in 6:55.88, with Bates second in 6:58.08. Trinity made it a close race for second, taking third in 6:58.52, just four-tenths out of second.
“We know we’re going to continue to be pushed by Bates and Trinity in the next few weeks,” added Smith, “and we’ve got a lot of work to do to keep increasing our boat speed."
With five wins in five races, Williams easily outdistance all other crews for the women’s point trophy, accumulating 108 points. Bates and Holy Cross tied for second with 72 points, while Trinity amassed 59 points for fourth place. Contributing to the team excitement was the dramatic victory by the men’s 1V8 over Trinity; together with the racing by the men’s boats, the men and women collected the overall team points trophy, collecting 179 points, to take the title over Trinity College with 165 points.
Williams will travel to Cherry Hill, NJ next weekend to compete at the ECAC National Invitational where they will face off against many crews from the New England’s field, as well as crews from New York and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Lineups:
1V8
Coxswain Allison Prevatt ‘09
8 Katherine Robinson ‘09
7 Sarah Ginsberg ‘10
6 Sam Smith ’09
5 Meg Conan ‘09
4 Dorothy MacAusland ‘12
3 Kate Shaper ‘12
2 Emma Pelegri-O’Day ‘12
1 Julia Halterman ‘10
2V8
Coxswain Monsie Munoz ‘09
8 Katherine Conaway ‘09
7 Jessica Kopcho ‘09
6 Jane McClellan ‘12
5 Heather Burrell ‘11
4 Bianca Czaderna ‘11
3 Laura Caccamo ‘10
2 Anna Soybel ‘11
1 Maddy Berky ‘10
3V8
Coxswain Fiona Wilkes ‘12
8 Sarah Wallace ‘12
7 Abbie Deal ‘12
6 Lindsay Olsen ‘12
5 Sydney Tooze ‘12
4 Kelsey Conklin ‘12
3 Sarah Dorsey ‘12
2 Ashley Amos ‘12
1 Nora Kern ‘12
V4
Coxswain Becca Licht ‘11
4 Ellen Stuart ‘11
3 Adrienne Darrow ‘11
2 Emma Lehman ‘10
1 Rachel Hudson ‘10
2V4
Coxswain Liz Zhu ‘11
4 Mara Shapero ‘11
3 Kaitlin Konkel ‘10
2 Elissa Brown ‘09
1 Clara Coughlin ‘09
