HADLEY, Mass. - Williams women's crew faced off against Smith College and the University of Massachusetts on Saturday at the third annual Go for Gourd Regatta. The team had another impressive showing, with the 1V boat ultimately taking second to Division I UMass and the 2V placing eighth out of eleven boats.
Conditions on the Connecticut River were calm, but with a strong tail current that proved to be a difficult feature of the race.
The Varsity 4+, led by coxswain Katie Scott '26, stroked by Maya Tait '26 and followed by Caroline Ripsteen '29, Isolde Rayman-Moore '28, and bow seat Molly McWeeny '26 started first with bow number 1. This crew was the only four in the entire regatta, but still had a strong showing against all other boats across the 5000 meter course. Their start was powerful, and they impressively managed to hold off almost every eight until the last 1000 meters of the race. They finished tenth out of eleven crews, with a time of 20:36.2.
The 2V raced under bow number 8, with coxswain Ayanna Keshav '28, stroke seat Jordan Bose '29, followed by Grace McLaughlin '28, Laela Clark '28, Madeleine Lasell '29, Catherine Farman-Farmaian '26, Ava Lvovich '29, Sheridan Hauser '28, and bow seat Lily Clemens '28. A young boat, this crew handled the conditions with intensity and technicality, managing to hold off both the Smith and UMass 1Vs for much of the race. They placed seventh out of eleven crews, with a time of 18:37.0.
The 1V, with coxswain Ariana Oppenheimer '26, stroke seat Audrey Riddle '26, followed by Miranda Miller '29, Betsy Owens '28, Lindsay Gadsden '27, Carolyn Fortin '26, Vivian Johnson '27, Claire McDonald '26, and bow seat Anne Moghtader '29, started last out of the Williams crews with bow number 12. The crew also got off to a strong start, handling the difficult current and chasing after the Smith and UMass 1Vs in front of them. It was not until the second half of the race that they began to catch up to the other boats, and they used this momentum to push themselves forward and narrow the gap between them and UMass as much as possible. The crew finished 2nd out of eleven crews with a time of 17:20.6.
The Ephs next compete on Sunday, October 19 at the famous Head of the Charles Regatta.
