Men's Varsity 8 Defeats Tufts in a Competitive Day of Racing on Lake Onota

Pittsfield, MA - - The #2 Ephs hosted the #3 Tufts Jumbos on Onota Lake for a morning of 2000 meter sprints. The day featured five exciting races, with Williams prevailing in the first eight and Tufts winning the remaining contests. 


Onota Lake brought good conditions for race day: steady rain and a light cross-tailwind that built throughout the morning.

The Eph first eight started off the day strong, with Williams taking a win over the Jumbos. In a highly anticipated match up, the Williams first eight clocked a time of 5:54.14 over Tufts' 5:56.97. Stroke seat Will Densmore '26 was pleased with his crew's effort, saying: "We put down a solid piece informed by a productive few weeks of practice. Our start was quick, clean, and aggressive, and I think we learned a lot from Tufts' consistent push through the middle of the race. It was especially exciting to share this race with seniors Noah and Owen, who have contributed so much to Williams Crew these four years and whose final home race was this weekend. I'm excited for the coming week as we work to dial in our base pace and enjoy these final few weeks on Onota Lake."

The second eight dual was next, and in a tight contest, the Tufts crew prevailed, going 6:01.94 compared to Williams' 6:02.35. Four seat Dalton Peters '26 had this to say about the race: "Today was a tough loss that will sting for a while. Despite that, I'm proud of our effort today, and am excited for us to improve in the coming weeks. Hats off to Tufts for a great race."

Next the third eights, in which Williams (6:08.68) also narrowly lost to Tufts (6:09.24). Two seat Pablo Fox '25  described the race as follows: "We executed a collected and powerful base pace with room for improvement to be found on the bookends of the race. Huge shout out to Emma who excellently coxed a very mature and composed race from start to finish. Looking forward to seeing Tufts and the rest of the competition at the upcoming championship regattas the next two weekends."

Following was the fourth eight race, where Tufts crossed the finish line first despite a strong effort from the Ephs. The Jumbos clocked in at 6:17.07 to Williams' 6:19.51. After the race, four seat Mihr Mehrzad '26  was excited for th competition to come, saying: "We got off the line strong and stayed in it the whole way through. Tufts pushed ahead at the end, but this was the closest we've ever been. I have a lot of trust in this boat, and with two weeks left in the season, I believe we can make some big strides."

The last contest of the day was the fifth four race, where Williams lined up against two crews from Tufts. In a good showing from all boats, Tufts "A" (7:04.60) won out over Tufts "B" (7:10.70) and Williams (7:12.37). Coxswain Holly Miller '28 thought her crew had a good morning, saying: "The Tufts fours were impressive, but I'm also really proud of our boat. We have areas in which we can improve, but overall it was a strong race."

Eph head coach Marc Mandel reflected on the morning of racing, saying: "Tufts has been the recent standard-bearer in terms of team depth within the NESCAC and D3 rowing, and they did not disappoint today.  While our second through fifth boats came up on the short end of some very close races, we felt good about the effort and lessons learned.  Given the speed of the NESCAC as a whole, the next two weeks should provide for some great challenges and exciting racing!".

Williams will now begin preparation for the New England Rowing Championships, hosted next Saturday (5/3) in Worcester, MA.

WMC Lineups

First Eight (1V)

Cox - Christina Zhang '27
8 - William Densmore '26
7 - Noah Phipps '25
6 - Justin Schoenfarber '28
5 - Owen Maier '25
4 - Michael LesStrang '26
3 - Jack Wagner '27
2 - Kyle McHugh '28
1 - Quinn Carroll '27

Second Eight (2V)

Cox - Carina Sun '26
8 - Myer Liebman '26
7 - Trent Boone '25
6 - Austin Connelly '25
5 - Ben Floyd '25
4 - Dalton Peters '26
3 - Luke Guleserian '28 
2 - Chris Pohlmann '27
1 - Aidan Spellacy-Urken '28

Third Eight (3V)

Cox - Emma Cilke '28
8 - Ford Koles '25
7 - James Johnson-Brown '25
6 - Nyamekye Akosah '25
5 - Charlie Halverson '26
4 - Jack Archer '28
3 - Hallsey Souder '28
2 - Pablo Fox '25
1 - Brij Howard-Sarin '26

Fourth Eight (4V)

Cox - Ellia Chiang '25
8 - Graham Napack '26 
7 - Asher Rabinowitz '26
6 - Charlie Maier '26
5 - Alden Knox Weaver '27 
4 - Mihr Mehrzad '26
3 - Neel Verma '27
2 - Blaz Vavpetic '27
1 - Vaughn Sanders '26

Fifth Four (5V)

Cox - Holly Miller '28
4 - Felix Diaz '26
3 - Zach Cantrell '27
2 - Andrew Kurgan '28
1 - Henry Hilton '28