Novice Women Row to Victory at Head of the Fish

SARATOGA, NY – Williams women’s crew’s novice women enjoyed victory at their first race this weekend at the Head of the Fish, while the varsity women concluded their season with a victory in both the eights and fours events.

The novice women were the first on the water in the fours race. The fours, made up of women in their first collegiate rowing season, showcased the depth of the Williams program: the “A” four, stroked by recruit Dana Golden ‘13, came in first with a time of 14:03.95, 52 seconds faster than the second place Williams “B” four, stroked by Meg Steer ’13, which came in at 14:56.60. “We work to ensure that the Fish is a ‘great introduction’ to rowing for our novices. You could see the joy in the faces of the new rowers as the varsity gathered around and sent them off to race with our traditional WI-LLI-AMS chant,” said head coach Justin Moore.

After the morning’s success, the novice women competed for a second time in the women’s collegiate novice 8+ event. Based on the first place finish of last year’s novice women, the Williams crew were the first novice women’s 8+ on the course. The Williams crew, stroked again by Golden, beat out 2nd place St. Lawrence College to come in first out of a field of 29 entries, with a time 13:12.35, defending the first place title, and coming home with a fish head trophy. “I am very pleased with how the novices approached and raced this weekend,” said novice coach Brad Hemmerly, “Both the coxswains and rowers knew what they were responsible for and executed very well.”

It was also a good day for the Williams varsity women. Williams took first, second, and fourth in the collegiate 4+ event, with the Sophomore four (coxed by Liz Zhu ’11 and dressed as Teletubbies) taking first, ahead of the Senior four (coxed by Fiona Wilkes ’12, and dressed as senior citizens), UMass Amherst, and the Williams ex-novice four (coxed by Alexis Rodriguez ’13, and wearing their athletic gear from previous lives as a swimmer, soccer player, lacrosse player, and mathlete). “We spent the week of training after the Charles focusing on our 4+s, and the women responded fantastically well – our three fours finished 1st, 2nd, and 4th, showing that we can row and race effectively in a boat-class other than the 8+,” said Moore.

The varsity women experienced a quick turn-around, and shortly after landing the fours, took to the water again in the collegiate 8+ event. The Williams “A” boat, stroked by Dorothy MacAusland ‘12 took first, with a time of 12:20.96, beating out Ithaca. The Williams “B” boat, stroked by Sara Wallace ’12, came in 6th behind St. Lawrence College, with a time of 12:54.39.

Members of the novice and varsity squads combined to make up the 3rd Varsity 8+, which raced in the JV race. Stroked by Hayley Swan ’12, the crew took 7th in the JV race with a time of 14:01.90 over the roughly 3.5K race course.

The women will be moving indoors this week to begin their winter training, looking forward to the spring sprint season, which will begin with their annual training trip to Myrtle Beach, SC over Spring Break.
Complete results can be found here.

LINEUPS:
Novice 4+s:

Williams A:
Bow: Annie Haley ‘13
2: Hayley Swan ‘13
3: Emily Rockett ‘10
Stroke: Dana Golden ‘13
Coxswain: Alexis Rodriguez ‘13

Williams B:
Bow: Leah Horowitz ‘13
2: Katherine Amano ‘13
3: Emma Laukitis ‘13
Stroke: Meg Steer ‘13
Coxswain: Amelia Simmons ‘13

Novice 8+:

Bow: Meg Steer ‘13
2: Leah Horowitz ‘13
3: Katherine Amano ‘13
4: Emma Laukitis ‘13
5: Emily Rockett ‘10
6: Hayley Swan ‘13
7: Annie Haley ‘13
Stroke: Dana Golden ‘13
Coxswain: Alexis Rodriguez ‘13

Varsity 4+s:

Williams A (Ex-Novice):
Bow: Nora Kern ‘12
2: Ashley Amos ‘12
3: Abbie Deal ‘12
Stroke: Lindsay Olsen ‘12
Coxswain: Alexis Rodriguez ‘13

Williams B (Sophomore):
Bow: Kate Shaper ‘12
2: Emma Pelegri-O’Day ‘12
3: Jane McClellan ‘12
Stroke: Dorothy MacAusland ‘12
Coxswain: Liz Zhu ‘11

Williams C (Senior):
Bow: Maddie Berky ‘10
2: Sarah Ginsberg ‘10
3: Laura Caccamo ‘10
Stroke: Julia Haltermann ‘10
Coxswain: Fiona Wilkes ‘12

Varsity 8+s:

Williams A:

Bow: Kaitlin Konkel ‘10
2: Emma Pelegri-O’Day ‘12
3: Jane McClellan ‘12
4: Laura Caccamo ‘10
5: Kate Shaper ‘10
6: Maddie Berky ‘10
7: Julia Haltermann ‘10
Stroke: Dorothy MacAusland ‘12
Coxswain: Liz Zhu ‘11

Williams B:

Bow: Nora Kern ‘12
2: Ashley Amos ‘12
3: Dana Golden ‘13
4: Annie Haley ‘13
5: Abbie Deal ‘12
6: Lindsay Olsen ‘12
7: Sydney Tooze ‘12
Stroke: Sara Wallace ‘12
Coxswain: Fiona Wilkes ‘12

JV 8+:

Bow: Meg Steer ‘13
2: Kelsey Trudo ‘12
3: Alex Highet ‘13
4: Devon Drew ‘13
5: Emily Rockett ‘10
6: Sarah Ginsberg ‘10
7: Joya Sonnenfeldt ‘10
Stroke: Hayley Swan ‘13
Coxswain: Amelia Simmons ‘13