SARATOGA LAKE – SARATOGA, NY – Saturday was bittersweet for Williams women's crew. It was the first race for the Novice women, and the last strokes of the fall for the women's team. However, at the end of the day, the Ephs arrived home after a fun and competitive day of racing with some hardware in tow, celebrating three first place finishes, one second place finish, and one third place finish.
With clear, cold conditions, including a slight tailwind in the morning that picked up throughout the day, the Ephs posted some fast times on the 3400m course. To start off the morning, the first Varsity eight rowed to a 11:45.05 finish to capture first over strong D3 competitor William Smith (12:04.87).
"This is the last race for the senior 1V and we definitely came out of it with some things to work for the winter," said 1V 5 seat Abbie Deal '12.
Shortly after, the 2V and 3V went off in the JV eights race. Setting up a quick rhythm, the 2V rowed the course a lot like a sprint race coming in with a first place time of 12:07.15, which would have been fast enough to earn them third in the Varsity race.
"The 2V was very happy with our performance, today. Our rowing has improved since last weekend and we felt like we rowed effectively together more than ever before," said Co-captain Sydney Tooze '12.
The 3V competed together for the first time and finished not far behind for sixth place (13.11:70).
"The Head of the Fish was an exciting first race for this 3V lineup. Racing in the 2V race, we went in with a nothing-to-lose attitude, wanting to see how we could finish. I was really happy with how the boat came together and I think we demonstrated the depth of the team as a whole," said 3V stroke Nora Kern '12.
However, the Fish is really the Novices' time to shine after their first two months of training with the team and learning to row. "The most exciting part of the day was being there to support the Novices who were having their first race with Williams Women's Crew," said Abbie Deal '12.
Both the Novice eight and the Novice four put in strong showings. The Novice four raced first, finishing third to UMass and Colgate with a time of 15:11.98. The Novice eight launched later in the afternoon and completed the course in 13:23.27 for a second place finish behind Marist (13:06.25).
To close out the day, the senior and sophomore fours braved the quickly worsening conditions to capture first (13:03.82) and sixth place (14:08.22) finishes in the Varsity fours race.
"It was a solid day. We had some good results and got done what we needed to get done. We're looking forward to a good, spirited winter training," said Head Coach Kate Maloney. The Ephs go out of season November 5 and will take their first strokes of the spring season over spring break in Myrtle Beach, SC.
For Full Results: http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=9614295&cat=6
