Pittsfield, MA – Women's crew walked away from their first home race of the season winning two out of four races in the annual Little Three Regatta.
Historically, the race has included both Wesleyan and Amherst, but in recent years only Wesleyan has traveled to face off against Williams in a series of dual races along Onota Lake's two-thousand-meter course. Going into this weekend of racing, Wesleyan was ranked second in the
Pocock CRCA poll, ahead of fifth-ranked Williams.
The Williams 1V lined up at the starting buoys first, with Wesleyan to the rowers' right.
Ariana Oppenheimer '26 coxed the boat, with
Isabel Mikheev '25 in stroke seat, followed by
Carolyn Fortin '26,
Vivian Johnson '27,
Ellie Davis '26,
Sophia Clavenna '27,
Prairie Resch '25,
Abby Murphy '25, and
Claire McDonald '26 in bow.
Both crews had a fast start, and the Cardinals gained an early lead and were sitting five seats up 300 meters into the race. But the Ephs dug in and pushed up to take a seat back before crossing the 500-meter mark.
The crews rowed neck and neck across the halfway point, and in the third 500 meters of the race, the Ephs turned on the gas and started to walk away. The Ephs gained a few inches of open water going into the last 500 meters and kept their lead through the finish as the hometown crowd cheered. The Ephs crossed the line with a time of 6:43.24 ahead of the Wesleyan crew, which finished with a time of 6:48.84.
"It was a confident, resilient race in the face of uncertainty, and we were able to lean into our training to take each stroke as it came and move as a boat the whole way," three-seat Resch said.
The 2V lined up alongside the Cardinals next with coxswain
Katie Scott '26 and
Audrey Riddle '26 in stroke seat, followed by
Molly McWeeny '26,
Betsy Owens '28,
Courtney FitzMaurice '27,
Arden Fluehr '25,
Charlotte Ragozin '27,
Maya Tait '26, and
Ellie Iorio '25 in bow.
The Cardinals took an early lead, and rowed a boat length up as the crews crossed the 1,000 meter mark. In the third 500 meters of the race, the Cardinals began to walk away. The Ephs entered the final 500 meters of the race down by open water, but put down a fast sprint and cut Wesleyan's lead by half.
Wesleyan crossed the finish line with a time of 6:56.61, ahead of the Ephs by three seconds.
"I thought we made a lot of improvements from last week, despite not having a ton of time to practice together," two-seat Tait said, noting that high winds had prevented the team from practicing on the water two days the past week. "I'm excited about how we can build up from here because it's still very early in the season for us."
The 3V's coxswain,
Ayanna Keshav '28 steered her crew to the start line last, with
Lindsay Gadsden '27 in stroke seat, followed by
Catherine Farman-Farmaian '26,
Grace McLaughlin '28,
Ella Potee '25, Kathie McKenna '25,
Maddy Andersen '25,
Lily Clemens, '28, and
Isolde Rayman-Moore '28 in bow.
The crew got up off the start and gained an open-water lead by 500 meters in. The boat kept working to grow their lead to a length of open water by the halfway mark. "We kept chugging away," McLaughlin said. "Our sprint and start were really good."
The Williams 3V crossed the line confidently with a time of 7:16.76, and Wesleyan finished with a time of 7:33.23.
Charis Woo '27 coxed Williams' fourth and final boat, with
Laela Clark '28,
Sheridan Hauser '28,
Alexa Hanson '26, and
Ava Rust '26 in bow. The Chardinal's four finished the race 8:18.92, and the Ephs followed with a time of 8:27.52.
The Cardinals gained an early lead, but the Ephs held contact with their stern through the halfway mark. In the second half of the race, the Wesleyan boat pushed ahead and grew their lead, crossing the finish line with a time of 8:18.92. The Ephs followed with a time of 8:27.52.
"We had so much fun putting together a race after a couple of days in this lineup, we saw great progress over the last three days and pulled out a solid effort," bow-seat Rust said.
Eph head coach
Paula Thoms was proud of the work that the team had put into the week "After a canceled race last weekend and only two practices on k due to weather, the team showed up today with exceptional focus and determination," she said. "We're proud of the way they executed and are excited to bring home Little Three trophies in the 1V and 3V events."
