Ephs See First Varsity 4+ Earn Gold at Head of the Riverfront

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Williams College women's crew team kicked off its fall racing season at the Head of the Riverfront Sunday, racing two eights and three fours against local competition, including Trinity, University of Connecticut and University of Rhode Island.

In the morning 8+ races, there was a strong head current and headwind, leading to gritty racing, with the conditions remaining largely the same as the 4+ racing kicked off in the afternoon. All five boats performed well in the respective categories, with the first varsity 4+ taking home gold and the varsity eights placing first and second, respectively, in Division III.

In the women's open 8+ category, the first varsity was coxed by Charis Woo '27 with Anne Moghtader '29 in stroke seat, followed by Vivian Johnson '27, Courtney FitzMaurice '27, Madeleine Lasell '29, Nola Schaenen '30, Sophia Clavenna '27, Olivia Thurman '27 and Miranda Miller '29 in bow.

The crew started second behind the University of Connecticut and ahead of Trinity, following the traditional staggered-start head race style. The Ephs had a view of their competition through the course and used that to their advantage, closing the gap on the Connecticut 8+, which started ahead of them. The unit also widened the gap between them and the Trinity boat following behind. Unfortunately, the crew hit a buoy in the last 250 meters, costing them a few critical seconds.

Ultimately, the crew finished fourth out of 28 boats, behind Division I teams University of Rhode Island and Holy Cross, with a time of 15:05.341. The Ephs were the fastest Division III and NESCAC boat, with the next fastest divisional boat, the Williams second varsity 8+, finishing just over 16 seconds later.

The second varsity also raced in the open 8+ category. It was coxed by Zoe Wallace '30 and stroked by Piper de Grys '30, followed by Jordan Bose '29, Caroline Ripsteen '29, Ellery Germer Mills '30, Isolde Rayman-Moore '28, Ellery Franceschini '29, Charlotte Ragozin '27 and Megan Finando '29 in bow.

Starting just behind the Trinity second varsity 8+ and knowing Rhode Island's second varsity 8+ was just behind them, the crew set out on the race course with a goal of passing the divisional rivals. The group achieved this quickly, passing Trinity while rowing by its boathouse, and ultimately finished ninth out of the 28-boat field with a time of 15:21.574.

"We did some gritty and fast racing," said five-seat Germer Mills. "We faced some rough racing conditions, but we pushed through them together and made some big moves that allowed us to pass other boats. I think this set us up well for the rest of the fall season and I am excited to race again next weekend."

In the women's open 4+ category a few hours later, Williams had three entries. The first Williams' boat to start was coxed by Woo, with Moghtader in stroke seat, followed by Johnson, FitzMaurice and Clavenna in bow. This four started behind the UConn boat and made it a mission to close the gap between the boats. The group finished first overall out of 32 crews with a time of 16:32.564.

Clavenna was excited about the race, "The 4+ was fun. We went into the race with a great attitude and executed to the best of our abilities. The head current felt pretty strong, but we stayed anchored to our focuses and ended up having a competitive race."

The second Williams' 4+ in the category was coxed by Wallace, stroked by Ripsteen, and followed by Germer Mills, Franceschini and Rayman-Moore in bow. This crew also followed a UConn boat and held tight all the way through the line. The Ephs finished ninth with a time of 16:59.641.

Finally, the third Williams' 4+ boat was stroked by Lindsay Gadsden '27, followed by Amelia Iorio '30, Lily Clemens '28 and Laela Clark '28, and coxed by Hannah Shapiro '30.

The crew came down the course surrounded by other teams, giving them some external motivation, and they passed several boats early on. This excitement worked to its advantage and the crew finished the race in 12th with a time of 17:09.760, just a little over 10 seconds behind the second Williams' 4+.

Assistant coach El Hilton framed the weekend's racing, "The Head of the Riverfront is a fun environment to start our season and test out the fitness and technical focuses the team has been working on in practice. From competitive results against Division I teams and conference members to everyone being ready to help however they can, all of the program showed up and embodied excellence today."

The Ephs compete in a scrimmage on Saturday, Oct. 10, with the varsity taking on Smith and UMass Amherst in Hadley, Massachusetts.