WORCESTER, MASS.—Williams Men's Crew returned to Lake Quinsigamond for the National Invitational Rowing Championships. The conditions were challenging with a cross wind that was funneled down the course in addition to strong gusts, rewarding those crews who were able to get their blades in cleanly and efficiently. Williams dominated the day, winning both the first and second varsity eights, claiming the NIRC Championship, NESCAC Championship, and ensuring a berth to the IRA National Championships. Williams showed their depth across the squad capturing the team points trophy as well.
The day began with morning heats and ended with evening finals. Much like last weekend at NERC, the Williams Crews sought to secure finishes that would guarantee placement in the grand finals. All of the Williams boats did what they needed to do, and earned their boats a place in the afternoon's grand finals.
The men's varsity eight had not only a NIRC title on the line, but a NESCAC Championship and berth to the IRA National Championship Regatta to be decided. Williams came through 500 meters with a slim lead on the field, up by 2 or 3 seats. The Ephs displayed dominance at pace and continued to open up the margin, claiming a six-seat lead by 1500 meters. MIT and Marist mounted a fierce final sprint, taking back a few seats, but it would not be enough to overtake Williams. The Eph first varsity eight crossed the line to claim gold, continuing the hallowed Williams tradition of ensuring that their bowball crossed the line first. This finish won Williams the NIRC title, the NESCAC title, and secured them a berth to the D3 IRA National Championship. Bow seat
Zola Baird said: "We knew going in that the race was going to be scrappy, and it definitely was. We went blow for blow with MIT for 1250 meters and showed some pretty awesome heart to slowly pull away at the end. I'm super lucky to be part of this boat and part of WMC. Go purp!" The final times were Williams first in 5:56.1, MIT second in 5:57.32, Marist third in 5:57.33, Bates fourth in 6:01.3, Hobart fifth in 6:01.5, and Tufts sixth in 6:02.5.
Williams entered the second varsity eight grand final as the top seeded favorites and looked to defend their position against crews from Marist, MIT, Hobart, Tufts, and Michigan. The field was very tightly packed after 500 meters, with Williams holding a narrow lead of a single seat on the rest of the crews. MIT began to challenge the Ephs around 750 meters by taking a slim lead, but the Ephs responded, taking it back just several strokes later. Coming through the 1000-meter mark, the race was as tight as ever with MIT managing to open a slight lead on the Williams crew and Tufts close behind the Ephs. MIT continued to hold their narrow lead on Williams through the 1500-meter mark, but the Ephs would not relent. Heading into the final 250 meters, the Ephs sat just down on MIT and up on the rest of the field. The Williams men realized that in order to continue getting their bowball across the line first, they would have to dig deep and find the resolve and commitment to do so. With just 10 strokes left in the race, the Williams crew found a new gear and took back their lead just as they crossed the finish line to secure a first-place finish in the Grand Final. Senior coxswain and team captain
Katie Friedman reflected on a final victorious race: "I'm really proud of the way this boat worked every day in practice and really came together over the course of this season. The boys showed a lot of composure rowing from behind MIT for much of the race and fought for each other all the way to the line. It was an incredible race to go out on as a senior, and I can't wait to watch where the younger rowers in this boat and on this team go from here." The final times saw Williams first in 6:06.08, MIT second in 6:06.22, Tufts third in 6:07, Hobart fourth in 6:08.9, Michigan fifth in 6:16.9, and Marist sixth in 6:23.2.
The third varsity eight grand final was contested between Michigan, MIT, Bates, Coast Guard, Williams, and Tufts. Coming through the first 500-meter mark, Michigan held a four-seat lead on the field, and Williams was solidly in the middle of the pack, fighting it out. Boats began to find more separation as the race came through the middle stretch, with the Eph crew sitting around fourth place, holding contact with several crews around them. The 1500-meter mark saw Michigan and MIT out ahead, with Williams sitting dead even on Coast Guard. The Ephs fought well through the finish line but were just edged out by Coast Guard for a fifth-place finish overall. Senior coxswain
Margot Berman reflected: "Our plan was to row an internal race and put down a piece that represented the work we've done all season, we were challenged by the conditions but found connection, nevertheless. I'm so proud of the work this crew has done this spring and feel incredibly lucky to have been a small part of it." The final times were Michigan first in 6:13, MIT second in 6:15, Bates third in 6:19, Coast Guard fourth in 6:22.5, Williams fifth in 6:22.8, and Tufts sixth in 6:30.6.
The fourth varsity eight's grand final had just 3 entries to the event so morning heats weren't necessary to determine seeding. Michigan jumped out to an early advantage of 3 seats while Williams and Tufts held even going through the 500-meter mark. Tufts then put on a powerful move around 750 meters in, and quickly worked through the Michigan lead. Williams fought to maintain contact with the leaders, but were unable to hold on, as they went on to a third-place finish. Bow seat and senior
Ethan Kendall noted: "We executed our race plan well and worked hard to chase Michigan and Tufts through the finish line. A lot of the technical things we've been working on over the last few weeks showed despite super windy conditions. I'm really proud of how far this boat has come and can't wait to see what they will do next season." The final times were Tufts first in 6:18, Michigan second in 6:20, and Williams third in 6:24.
Eph Head Coach
Marc Mandel offered: "The turnaround from New Englands to the NIRC is very challenging, as we have to recover from the excitement of a very successful day of racing last weekend, and then re-gear for an even more competitive race at the NIRC. I was impressed with how our athletes prepared during the week, and then of course raced with a relentless mindset on Sunday. I couldn't be more thrilled for our entire team's performances during the season, which is simply a reflection of their day-to-day approach to our process. After a few well-deserved days off, we'll regroup and start to prepare for the IRA National Championships."
Williams Men's Crew will cap off their season at Lake Mercer in New Jersey for the D3 IRA National Championship to be contested from June 3
rd through the 5
th.
FULL RESULTS HERE
Eph Lineups
First Varsity Eight: c-
Piper Higgins, 8-
Tad Montesano, 7
Gus Nordmeyer, 6-
Trevor Eckler, 5-
Owen Maier, 4-
Nick Ambeliotis, 3-
Riley Will, 2-
Collin Dent, 1-
Zola Baird
Second Varsity Eight: c-
Katie Friedman, 8-
Ben Washburne, 7-
Ben Floyd, 6-
Max Chayet, 5-
Austin Connelly, 4-
Trent Boone, 3-
Bernal Cortés, 2-
Noah Phipps, 1-
Theodore Tellides
Third Varsity Eight: c-
Margot Berman, 8-
Elias Sienkiewicz, 7-
Peter Miles, 6-
Nyamekye Akosah, 5-
Max Mallett, 4-
Pablo Fox, 3-
Robin Lamb, 2-
Sam Holmes, 1-
Nick Iskenderian
Fourth Varsity Eight: c-
Isabelle Shah, 8-
James Johnson-Brown, 7-
Ethan Kendall, 6- Lucas LaGiglia, 5-
Louis Kabelka, 4-
Pierre Cativiela, 3-
Salvador Robayo, 2-
Logan McClennen, 1-
Benjamin Ramsdell
