Worcester, MA: Williams Women's Crew started their championship racing season at the New England Rowing Championship Regatta. Williams brought three varsity eights and a 4+ to the regatta. Each crew raced in heats in the morning for a spot in their respective grand final.
A light headwind on a warm, sunny day blew over flat water on Lake Quinsigamond as the Women's varsity four (4+) rowed to the start line for their 8:00 a.m. race. The boat lined up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the rowers' left, and Merrimack College and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on their left.
Sohani Curtis '27 coxed the boat, with
Brenda Jaroker '25 in stroke-seat,
Alexa Hanson '26 in three-seat,
Maddy Andersen '25 in two-seat, and
Charlotte Ragozin '27 in bow.
The Williams 4+ faced fast competition in the varsity 4+ category against Division I schools and programs that prioritized making their 4+s their fastest boats.
The other boats got a jump ahead of the Ephs off the start, with MIT out in front, followed by UNH, and Merrimack. The three leading crews had open water on Williams 500-meters into the race, and the same margins between the boats grew throughout the race. MIT won the heat with a time of 7:57.98, followed by the UNH with a time of 8:05.122, Merrimack with a time of 8:20.879, and Williams with a time of 8:41.677.
Because Vermont scratched their entry from the second heat of varsity 4+ boats, Williams advanced to the grand final despite finishing last in their heat.
Williams' three varsity eight boats all needed to place first or second in their heats to advance to a grand final race in the afternoon. The third varsity eight (3V) locked into their stake boat at the start line with Holy Cross to the rower's right, followed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and Holy Cross.
Charis Woo '27 coxed the boat, with
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.
"Williams has rocketed out of of lane one," said the announcer after the flag dropped for the third head of the women's 3V races. Williams took advantage of their high strokes early on to get a boat-length lead on Holy Cross and WPI after the first 250 meters. Bowdoin also got off the line quickly, and the Ephs and Polar Bears rowed side by side during the first 300 meters of the race. Roughly 500 meters in, Bowdoin established a half a boat-length lead on Williams.
Bowdoin, followed closely by Williams, led the field down the course. The Polar Bears maintained their lead and crossed the line with a time of 7:26.615, followed by Williams with a time of 7:28.575, WPI with a time of 7:40.150, and Holy Cross with a time of 7:54.618. With their second-place finish, the Ephs 3V secured a spot in the grand final.
The Williams second varsity eight (2V) raced alongside Trinity, Smith, Coast Guard Academy, Mt. Holyoke, and Middlebury.
Ariana Oppenheimer '26 coxed the boat, 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.
All six lanes stayed even for the first 200 meters, but by 500 meters into the race, the Ephs pushed forward to a half a boat-length lead over the Trinity and Holy Cross crews.
Williams rowed comfortably in the second half of the race with an open-water lead on the field. "Williams looks like they have command of that position," the announcer said.
Williams finished first with a time of 7:04.686, followed by Trinity with a time of 7:09.350, and Smith with a time of 7:10.198. The rest of the field crossed the finish line more than 10 seconds behind.
"I thought the race was a lot of fun, I'm excited to see how the afternoon goes," three-seat Fortin said of the morning race.
After the 2V race, Coxswain
Katie Scott '26 steered the Eph's first varsity eight (1V) to the start line for the final heat race of the day.
Anna Owens '25 sat in stroke seat, 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 crew locked into the start line with MIT on their left and Bates, Middlebury, Clark, Colby, and Simmons on their right.
MIT got out to an early half-length lead on the Ephs, who had a half-length lead on Bates, Colby, and Middlebury. Roughly 500 meters into the race, coxswain Scott called bow-ball on Bates.
With MIT well ahead, Williams focused on maintaining their lead over Bates. The Bobcats made a push in the third 500 meters and gained a seat back, but the Ephs maintained their second-place position through the finish. MIT finished with a time of 7:00.979, followed by Williams with a time of 7:05.867, and Bates with a time of 7:09.887. The remaining boats crossed the finish line more than seven seconds behind.
After a morning of successful heat racing, all Williams' boats secured spots in the afternoon grand finals.
In the afternoon, the 4+ lined up alongside their same competitors from the morning, in addition to Wentworth Tech, Amherst, and Holy Cross.
"We wanted to put down our best time and row our best race of the season," two-seat Andersen said.
Amherst led the pack off of the start, closely followed by UNH, Holy Cross, and MIT. 500 meters into the race, Merrimack rowed a boat length down from fourth place MIT, followed closely by Williams in fifth. Williams maintained contact with Merrimack through the first 500 meters of the race, but Merrimack gained an open-water lead on Williams in the second half of the race.
Williams held off Wentworth Tech with an open-water lead to finish sixth with a time of 8:21.75 – 10 seconds behind fifth-place Merrimack and roughly 40 seconds behind first-place Amherst.
With this finish, the 4+ set a personal record time as a boat and concluded their 2024 spring season. "The V4+ raced mostly D1 programs in the heat and final," Eph head Coach
Paula Thoms said. "Their composure, unity, and relentless effort brought pride to the team in their last race of the season."
"Everyone was motivated to go all out because we knew it was our last race," bow-seat Ragozin said. "I think it was a great race to end our season on."
For the 3V's grand final, the Williams crew lined up against Bowdoin for the second time, in addition to Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Bates College. With the overall third fastest time among all heats from the morning, the Eph's 3V crew hoped to maintain their podium standing.
"Before the race, we talked about not shying away from the stress of having other boats around us," three-seat Thurman said.
500 meters into the race, Tufts established a boat-length lead over Williams and Bowdoin, who vied for the second-place position. The Polar Bears and Ephs once again battled down the course.
"I can't even tell you the margin between Williams and Bowdoin," the announcer said with 500 meters to go in the race. "It's bow-ball to bow-ball every single stroke."
"Coming into the second thousand meters Bowdoin was taking seats but we were taking them back," Thurman said.
"I knew it was going to come down to the last sprint," coxswain Woo said. "During that first step up of the sprint we moved from half a seat up to a full seat up – I was like 'alright, it's happening
now.'" Williams upped their stroke rate to make an impressive push ahead in the last 200 meters.
Williams finished in second place with a time of 7:27.221 – 3 seconds ahead of third-place Bowdoin and 13 seconds behind first-place Tufts.
The 2V faced MIT, Tufts, Holy Cross, Trinity, and Wesleyan in their grand final.
"We went into this race knowing MIT and Tufts were our biggest competition," two-seat McWeeny said.
MIT got an early boat-length lead over second-place Tufts in the first 500 meters of the race, but Williams held on to third, rowing one seat behind Tufts. After a big move 800 meters into the race, the boat found their stride, McWeeney said. Halfway down the course, Williams maintained contact with the Tufts boat, but the Ephs had to work to hold off fourth-place Holy Cross.
"It looks like Holy Cross is making a sneaky move on Williams and Williams is going to have to answer here if they want to hold onto that bronze medal," the announcer said at the 1,000-meter mark.
Williams found their answer in the final 400 meters, when Oppenheimer asked the boat to trust her as she called on her crew to sprint early.
"We had a really strong sprint at the end," McWeeny said. "We are really proud that we medaled and we are excited to find even more speed next week."
The Ephs crossed the finish line with open water over Holy Cross and a time of 7:03.081. Williams finished three seconds behind second-place Tufts and eight seconds behind first-place MIT.
The 1V faced Wellesley, Trinity, Wesleyan, Tufts, and MIT in the last grand final of the day. MIT established an early lead, followed closely by Tufts, Wesleyan, Trinity, and Williams in fifth place ahead of Wellesley. Halfway through the race margins remained close all lanes, with all boats rowing with overlap on one another.
MIT crossed the finish line first with open water, and Tufts and Wesleyan battled in the last 500, with Tufts securing a silver medal, less than a second ahead of bronze-winning Wesleyan. Williams held a boat-length lead on Wellesley in the last 500 to finish in fifth place with a time of 7:05.494 – 5 seconds behind fourth-place Trinity and 12 seconds behind first-place MIT.
After a day of racing with all boats rowing in the grand finals and two boats medaling, Williams placed fourth overall as a team and second in the NESCAC behind first-place Tufts.
"Ranking fourth overall out of 24 teams from New England was an exciting step forward for us," Thoms said.
Next week, the Ephs will face many of the same competitors at the National Invitational Rowing Championship and NESCAC Championship. "We have momentum that we are determined to capitalize on in the coming week," Thoms said.
