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GOLD RIVER, CA — The Williams College women's 1V and 2V boats have put themselves in a position to win a 5th straight national title after a fantastic day on the water of Lake Natoma. The 1V boat rowed to the fastest time of the morning's three heats, easily winning Heat 1, and the 2V dominated the Grand Qualifier in the afternoon.
"Any time your IV and 2V boats can line up for the Grand Final and look across at each other, that makes it special," Williams head coach Justin Moore said. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow, our 1V boat has a chance to show the country just how great they are. I'm equally excited to see the 2V be completely audacious now that they have put themselves in a position to compete against the best boats in the country."
The Grand Final is scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PST, 2:30 p.m. EST back at Lake Natoma and the Sacramento State Aquatic Center.
Friday, the Ephs 1V line-up of Becca Licht, coxswain; Julia Haltermann, stroke; Dorothy MacAusland, 7th seat; Kate Shaper, 6th seat; Lindsay Olsen, 5th seat; Dana Golden, 4th seat; Madeline Berky, 3rd seat; Sara Ginsburg, 2nd seat; Emma Pelegri-O'Day, bow seat, wasted no time showing just how good they were, taking command of the morning's Heat 1 by more than five seconds after only 500 meters.
Williams increased its open water lead to nearly 10 seconds after 1,000 meters and never looked back, finishing with a time of 6:35.09. Puget Sound was second in the heat, nearly 20 seconds behind in 6:54.80.
"Given the fact we just finished exams Monday and traveled for 15 hours to get here Tuesday, I was really, really pleased with how we were able to bounce back and show up mentally and physically," Moore said. "We felt like we didn't want to conserve even if we controlled the race after 1,500 meters, given the fact we had more than 24 hours of recovery time and we hadn't really gone full out, for a 2K in a quite awhile. We wanted them to get that feeling, that pain you get in the middle of a race, so they would be ready for it and welcome it tomorrow."
The Williams 2V line-up featuring Elizabeth Zhu, coxswain; Laura Caccamo, stroke; Sydney Tooze, 7th seat; Sara Wallace, 6th seat; Abbie Deal, 5th seat; Kelsey Conklin, 4th seat; Jane McClellan, 3rd seat; Adrienne Darrow, 2nd Seat; Kaitlin Konkel, bow seat, participated in Heat 3 during the morning.
The Ephs were third after the first 500 meters, trailing Trinity and Bates by a seat or two, but moved ahead of Trinity after the second 500 meters and took the lead for a few meters over the final 500 before settling for second place in the heat with a time of 6:42.02. Bates won the heat in 6:41.10.
The Ephs used that start as a learning moment and took it into the Grand Qualifier in the afternoon, flying over the first 500 meters in 1:41.18. The Ephs never trailed in the race, opening up an open water lead over Trinity after 1,000 meters and never looking back. They finished in 7:01.19, 3.74 seconds ahead of second-pace Trinity.
"In the morning heat, we felt we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole over the first 500 meters," Moore said. "In the afternoon, we didn't have to win the first 500, but we wanted to be right there with them. That good start allowed us to really get to our strength, base rhthym, during the middle of the race, we were able to just churn away. Overall, our team execution was excellent today."
