Princeton, NJ – In the first day of competition at the NCAA National Championship, both Williams boats won their respective heats and secured spots in the grand final races.
Both boats needed a top-two finish to automatically qualify for their grand finals. In the 2V's heat, the Ephs faced Ithaca, Wesleyan, and St. Mary's.
Katie Scott '26 coxed the boat with
Courtney FitzMaurice '27 in stroke seat, followed by
Molly McWeeny '26,
Maya Tait '26,
Grace McLaughlin '28,
Prairie Resch '25,
Charlotte Ragozin '27,
Arden Fluehr '25, and
Ellie Iorio '25 in bow.
The crew got an early lead over the field and rowed half a boat length over second-place Wesleyan as the crews crossed the 500-meter mark. In the second half of the race, the Ephs rowed confidently in first with a boat length lead over the Cardinals.
Williams crossed the line with a time of 7:05.301, five seconds ahead of second-place Wesleyan.
The 1V crew lined up against St. Mary's, Wesleyan, and Wellesley.
Ariana Oppenheimer '26 coxed the boat, with
Isabel Mikheev '25 in stroke seat, followed by
Audrey Riddle '26,
Abby Murphy '25,
Ellie Davis '26,
Sophia Clavenna '27,
Claire McDonald '26,
Vivian Johnson '27, and
Carolyn Fortin '26 in bow.
Wesleyan gained an early lead, and rowed two seats over Wellesley and Williams as the boats crossed the 500-meter mark. But in the second 500 meters of the race, the Ephs pushed ahead, and rowed in first place by a seat crossing the halfway mark.
"In the Williams Boat coxswain
Ariana Oppenheimer was the coxswain of the 2V last year, she's a national champion so now she is charging, she has that confidence," commentator and Olympic medalist coxswain Mary Whipple said of the Ephs' coxswain.
The Ephs grew their lead to just over half a boat length going into the last 500 meters, and held off the Cardinals to cross the finish line first with a time of 6:57.233, just over a second ahead of the second-place Wesleyan.
The 2V will race tomorrow at 10:48 a.m. against Wesleyan, Tufts, Bates, and the top two finishers of the afternoon repechage race, and the 1V will race tomorrow at 11:36 a.m. against the same competitors' 1V boats.
