Saratoga, NY – Williams Women's Crew (WWC) faced off against Wesleyan at the annual Little Three Regatta. All boats put down fast times in tough conditions, and the 2V, 3V, and 4+ came home with trophies.
The 1V launched first, with coxswain
Katie Scott '26 and stroke seat
Anna Owens '25, followed by
Maya Tait '26,
Ellie Davis '26,
Isabel Mikheev '25,
Lola Kovalski '25,
Abby Murphy '25,
Claire McDonald '26, and
Ellie Iorio '25 in bow.
The dual race between William's and Wesleyan's 1Vs was originally scheduled for 3:40 p.m., but a strong headwind on the course caused long delays in starting the previous races on the course. The 1V finally lined up on the start line at 4:45 p.m., after more than 90 minutes of waiting on the water in the cold, windy conditions.
"I was very cold," bow-seat Iorio said. "It was frustrating but we made the best of the situation."
To save time, the Wesleyan and Williams Second Varsity Eights also lined up on the course to race alongside the 1Vs.
Ariana Oppenheimer '26 coxed the Williams 2V, with
Courtney FitzMaurice '27 in stroke, followed by
Audrey Riddle '26,
Riley Galizio '24,
Prairie Resch '25,
Sophia Clavenna '27,
Carolyn Fortin '26,
Molly McWeeny '26, and
Ava Rust '25 in bow.
"We couldn't even square our oars," bow seat Rust said. "We were working against the conditions, the wind was pushing into our backs pretty hard as we tried to get the stroke rate up."
"We rolled with it really well," five-seat Resch said. "It was kind of fun in a weird chaotic way. We used that time to get a lot of steady state in and get a feel together."
Off the start, the Wesleyan 1V gained two seats on William's 1V. The Williams 2V, even with the 1V, also gained seats on the Wesleyan 2V in the first few hundred meters. The field stayed tight throughout the race, with overlap between the Wesleyan 1V, the Williams 1V, and the Williams 2V down the entire course.
Just after the thousand-meter mark, the Williams 2V had open water on the Wesleyan 2V, and the boat widened the gap through the finish.
"We had a couple bobbles but every time we found composure," Resch said. "We leaned into that composure really well and let it carry us through the race."
Alongside the 2V, the Williams 1V and Wesleyan 1V battled throughout the second half of the race. The Ephs were half a boat length down at the halfway mark, but they fought back seat by steat in the 3
rd 500 meters of the race. With 600 meters left to go, they pulled even with Wesleyan and got their bow ball ahead by a seat.
Both boats started their sprints neck-and-neck with one another. Wesleyan made a decisive move and pulled ahead within the last 250 meters.
"I think we got frantic and let conditions towards the end of the race take control," Iorio said.
The Wesleyan 1V finished with a time of 7:42.63, closely followed by the Williams 1V with a time of 7:45.15 and the Williams 2V with a time of 7:46.36. The Wesleyan 2V finished with a time of 7:59.34. "It's exciting that we were able to come out with two competitive eights, and that speaks to the depth of our team," Iorio said. "We know we have more to give."
"Combining the 1V and 2V races put on display the depth of speed in our top boats," Eph head Coach
Paula Thoms said. "They have been pushing each other all week to be faster and more resilient racers."
The Williams 3V raced next, with
Charis Woo '27 in the coxswain seat,
Arden Fluehr '25 in stroke seat, followed by
Ella Potee '25,
Vivian Johnson '27,
Catherine Farman-Farmaian '26,
Lindsay Gadsden '27,
Annie Refermat '26,
Olivia Thurman '27, and
Cora Birknes '27 in bow.
Off of the start, the crew gained half a boat length on Wesleyan. "We rowed a really clean start," two-seat Thurman said. After the first 750 meters, the boat's coxswain was sitting on Wesleyan's bow-ball.
"Something we talked about going into this race was making sure to extend our lead if we get to bow ball on another boat," Thurman said. Conxswain Woo made sure her crew held this commitment.
At the halfway mark, Woo called "Here comes Williams," and the boat dug into a fast pace to solidify their lead and cross the finish line first with a time of 8:15.25, nearly 10 seconds ahead of Wesleyan.
"This was our cleanest race all spring," Thurman said. "The focus was so good."
William's 4+ raced last, with coxswain
Sohani Curtis '27, Stroke Seat
Brenda Jaroker '25, three-seat
Alexa Hanson '26, two-seat
Maddy Andersen '25, and bow
Charlotte Ragozin '27.
"We had a really hard time getting set in the warm up, and the conditions made it extra hard," Ragozin said. "There were huge gusts and we were getting blown like crazy."
Amid the relentless wind, the 4+ gained open water within the fist 300 meters of the race.
"The race felt very long," Ragozin said. "It was very challenging mentally and physically."
The 4+ finished with a time of 9:51.040, more than twenty seconds ahead of Wesleyan.
"The 3V and 4+ spent all week battling difficult conditions and taking challenges in stride," Assistant Coach
Eileen Russell said. "The mental toughness that we built up this week paid off with the tough conditions and hectic schedule in today's race."
"I'm so proud of the grit the team showed today as they handled schedule changes, high headwinds, and strong competition," Thoms said.
As Thoms pointed out at the award ceremony, today's racing marked the 55
th year of the Little Three Regatta. "You are all part of a long legacy," she said.
WWC races against Tufts at their home racecourse on Lake Onota in Pittsfield next weekend.
