WORCESTER, MA—It was a warm and sunny on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester as teams from all over gathered to race at the Head of the Snake. The water was calm with a slight head wind as the races got off to a start this morning. Williams Crew brought 3 Varsity eights to the course, and it was a day of successful results across all crews.
The 1V went down the course first behind the University of Vermont's 1V and started with aggression. The boat was coxed by
Julia Lim and stroked by
Anna Owens, followed by
Ella Napack,
Erin Barry,
Isabel Mikheev,
Prairie Resch,
Ellie Iorio,
Ellie Davis and
Gabby Fazzalari in bow seat. The Williams crew passed UVM 2400 meters into the race, and then chased the crews ahead of them towards the finish. Williams finished with a time of 15:21.05, 18 seconds behind MIT's time of 15:02.9. First year 2 seat
Ellie Davis shared that "I was impressed by our composure and our consistency. Paula (Eph head coach
Paula Thoms) told us to be relentless during the race, and I think we all remembered that, and it showed."
The 2V was coxed by
Summer Keating and stroked by
Maya Tait, followed by
Lola Kovalski,
Alex Bonat,
Emily Hugo,
Mia Kabillio,
Abby Murphy,
Ava Rust and
Isabelle Zollinger in bow seat. The boat raced across the starting line with power and passed Clark within the first 1000 meters of the race. The boat kept up their speed through the middle chunk of the race, pushing back against the head wind as they sailed towards the line. The boat finished 11
th behind Colby's 1V, with a time of 16:11.9. First year stroke seat
Maya Tait shared that "We started out really strong and kept it steady. We are looking forward to improving our spring. It's a good race to build on for the rest of the season."
Sarah Gantt coxed the 3V that was stroked by
Audrey Riddle,
Ella Potee,
Greta Gruber,
Madeleine Horn,
Annie Refermat,
Ana Wever,
Arden Fluehr and
Grace Clarke in bow seat. The boat had a solid first 1000 meters of the race, passing WPI as they crossed into the middle section. The boat focused on ratio as they pushed through the 3
rd 1000 meters, and they made conscious moves to improve the rhythm throughout. The boat ended in 14
th place with a time of 16:47.2, behind Colby's 2V. First year stroke seat
Audrey Riddle shared that "Our hard work in practice really propelled our boat today. Trusting each other really helped make the race feel united and strong."
This was Eph head coach
Paula Thoms first race with WWC, and she enjoyed every second of watching the team's sucessfull day. Coach Thoms reflected, "I'm proud of the way the team executed their races today! They went hard and had fun. We'll be back to work on Monday preparing for Head of the Charles and Head of the Fish.".
The team is thrilled with their competitiveness and speed throughout today's races. With the Head of the Charles coming up in 1 week, the team is eager to build on their momentum and work towards the goal of standing on the podium in Boston. WWC has a strong first race under their belt, and they are excited to take more strokes to gain speed as they gear up for the biggest race of the fall.
