MEDFORD, MASS. — The Williams men's crew team made the trip out to the Malden River to race on Tufts' home course for the NESCAC Championship on Sunday. The day was sunny and warm with the course featuring light variable winds throughout the day. The Ephs showed depth across the squad and speed in the first varsity eight to beat the competition and claim the NESCAC rowing title.
The second varsity eight was up first at 2:00 PM for their semifinal race. The Ephs lined up a few seats down on Tufts at the starting line due to two turns early in the race—a starting pattern to be repeated for all races. The Williams crew was unphased by starting down and overcame the deficit by the 500m mark to pull ahead. Williams never looked back and continued to widen the margin through the line, finishing with open water over Tufts. The final times were 6:19.5 for Williams to Tufts in 6:25.8. The second varsity semifinals set up the Grand Final race to be between Williams and Bates, while Trinity and Tufts would face off in the Consolation Final.
The other second varsity semifinal race saw Bates win in 6:22.3 to Trinity finishing in 6:34.8.
The first varsity Williams crew continued with the rhythm that the second varsity crew put down, winning over Tufts to qualify for the Grand Final of the NESCAC Championship. The Ephs were sitting down a few seats heading into the first turn and moved through the Jumbos' crew to find open water with 500 meters left in the race. The Ephs stayed in control, finishing in a time of 5:57.6 to Tufts' 6:02.37.
The semifinal race between Trinity and Bates was tight down the course, with Trinity winning in a time 5:54.6 to 5:55.8, setting up a rematch of last weeks close NESCAC West final between Trinity and Williams.
Feeding off the energy and momentum that the Ephs had laid down earlier in the afternoon, the second varsity eight lined up for their Grand Final race against Bates. Again, the Williams crew proved to be the faster crew, finding speed off the start and making up their starting deficit before hitting the 300m mark. Once the Eph boat saw Bates sitting behind, they kept up an aggressive piece to send Bates further behind. The second varsity Williams crew crossed the finish line in a dominant time of 6:09.6, good for the third fastest time down the course in the final races among all boats competing. Bates finished in a time of 6:21.32. Stroke seat
Peter Fousek said, "We really executed on our two major goals of making boats go fast and keeping our bow in front. I really think that doing so helped us win the race."
The second varsity Petite Final saw Trinity coming across the line in a time of 6:34.4 to Tufts' 6:38.6.
To cap off a phenomenal day of racing for the Ephs, the first varsity crew threw down a great race, finishing with open water in the rematch against Trinity's top crew. In a similar fashion to the second varsity crew, Williams' first boat took the lead by the 500-meter mark and then decisively walked through Trinity leaving no doubt. The Tufts boathouse marks 750 meters to go, and by the time the Williams crew reached this point, it was open water, and the crew finished out the piece to excited cheers from spectators and the Eph second varsity crew.
Team captain and 5-seat
Nick Beischer, reflected on the day: "Today was a great day for the Williams men's crew program! We've been building speed over the last couple of weeks and months, so I think today was a nice indicator of the team's hard work. As a boat we had a strong start and a nice internal focus throughout the piece. I'm excited to keep building and getting faster!"
The Petite Grand Final was decided with Tufts finishing with a time of 6:05.1 to Bates' 6:09.9.
Eph head coach
Marc Mandel was clearly pleased with the day: "What a great day of racing! I thought both of our boats did a tremendous job of managing the two races - rowing smart and within themselves in the early races, and then putting together aggressive and sharp races in the finals. After the past year, this last month of rowing has been a gift in so many ways, and watching our athletes perform at such a high level was extremely gratifying."
The Williams men's crew team will travel with three crews to Hanover, New Hampshire for a scrimmage against the Dartmouth heavyweights next week.
Eph Lineups
First Varsity Eight: c-
Isabelle Shah, 8-
Tad Montesano, 7-
Gus Nordmeyer, 6-
Nick Ambeliotis,
5-
Nick Beischer, 4-
Trevor Eckler, 3-
Riley Will, 2-
Collin Dent, 1-
Ben Washburne
Second Varsity Eight: c-
Katie Friedman, 8-
Peter Fousek, 7-
Matt Schliefman, 6-
Cam Edgar,
5-
Ian Pultz-Earle, 4-
Bernal Cortés, 3-
Zola Baird, 2-
Daniel Queen, 1-
Peter Hollander
