NEW HAVEN, CT— The Williams College women’s crew, three-time defending national champions, opened their fall season by going one-two at the Head of the Housatonic and downing both Trinity boats in the process.
In the women’s non-Division I collegiate eight event, the Williams 1V and 2V eights placed first and second. The Williams 1V, was the only team in the race to dip under the fifteen minute mark, covering the five kilometer course in 14:57. Their time would have placed them fifth in the Division I race, behind four eights from Yale University, the two-time defending national champions for Division I. “The race went so well,” remarked 1V 3-seat Jess Kopcho ’09. “It felt like we really came together, and everything we’ve been working on fell right into place."
Coxswain Allison Prevatt ‘09 was impressed with her crew’s ability to execute the race plan. “We started high and kept an aggressive pace throughout the whole race,” Prevatt said. “Before the first mile mark we had passed two crews that had started ahead of us. We kept the stroke rating high throughout and executed our race plan perfectly.”
Close behind, the Williams 2V stopped the clock at 15:05 to take second place, finishing seven seconds ahead of the third-place Trinity 1V (15:12). “The eights race was very exciting for the 2V”, said coxswain Monsie Munoz ’09. “We started two boats behind the Trinity 2V and our goal was to take it a boat at a time and make our way up to them. Everyone was focused and we knew what we had to do to reach our goal.”
With 2 ¼ miles down in the race, the Ephs drew even with the Trinity boat and after several hundred meters of battling bow ball to bow ball, the Wiliams 2V began taking seats on their opponent, walked through Trinity, and took open water. “Our race was amazing: aggressive and powerful,” remarked 2V 4-seat Ellen Stuart ’11. “It could not have been a better day for racing either. It was a perfect day for the team.”
The Ephs hard at work earlier in the week in the midst of fall foliage season on Lake Onota.
(Photo: Allison Prevatt '09)
The women also placed three boats in the top five of the collegiate women’s fours event. The top Williams boat, stroked by Sam Smith ’09, placed second overall (16:53.7), eight seconds behind the winning four from Dowling College. Five seconds back, the freshmen four, stroked by Kate Shaper ’12, took third place in 16:58.2. Fifth place went to the Williams four stroked by Sarah Ginsberg ’10, finishing with a time of 17:19.0, just behind the fourth place crew from Coast Guard.
“The fours races are a testament to how we approach racing,” said Smith. “We don’t practice fours much, but we’re able to just take them out and go. It speaks well to how strong our team is now.”
After losing nine seniors to graduation, the Ephs faced the challenge of regrouping with a new team for their first regatta since the national championship regatta in the spring. “Today was our first race with our new seven recruits,” remarked captain Katherine Robinson ’09. “It was a chance for us to test out how the team would perform as a whole, after all the success we had last year, and I can’t imagine a better way to start than going one, two in the eights race. The next challenge will be to see where we can get more speed from and continue to improve for next weekend.”
The Williams women will compete next weekend at the historic Head of the Charles regatta in Cambridge.
For Complete Results, click here.
Event 5B: Fours—Collegiate Women (Non-Division I)
Event 12B: Eights—Collegiate Women (Non-Division I)
Williams V8 Lineups:
Williams 1V (1st place):
(C) Allison Prevatt ’09, (8) Sarah Ginsburg ‘10, (7) Sam Smith ’09, (6) Katherine Robsinson ’09, (5) Dorothy MacAusland ’12, (4) Kate Shaper ’12, (3) Jess Kopcho ’09, (2) Kat Conaway ’09, and (1) Elissa Brown ‘09
Williams 2V (2nd place):
(C) Monsie Munoz ’09, (8) Heather
Burrell ’11, (7) Jane McClellan ’12, (6) Emma
Pelegri-O’Day ’12, (5) Bianca Czaderna ’11, (4)
Ellen Stuart ’11, (3) Sydney Tooze ’12, (2) Adrienne
Darrow ’11, (1) Anna Soybel ‘11
Williams V4 Lineups:
Williams “A” (2nd place):
(C) Becca Licht ’11, (4) Sam Smith ’09, (3) Katherine Robinson ’09, (2) Elissa Brown ’09, (1) Kat Conaway ‘09
Williams “B” (3rd place):
(C) Monsie Munoz ’09, (4) Kate Shaper ’12, (3) Dorothy MacAusland ’12, (2) Jane McClellan ’12, (1) Emma Pelegri-O’Day ‘12
Williams “C” (5th place):
(C) Allison Prevatt ’09, (4) Sarah Ginsburg ’10, (3) Jess Kopcho ’09, (2) Bianca Czaderna ’11, (1) Heather Burrell ’11
