WORCESTER, Mass. - The Williams College women's crew team swept the annual Donahue Cup on Lake Quinsigamond Saturday against Connecticut College, WPI, Simmons, Clark and Pacific Lutheran. All three boats won its respective races by open water despite a strong tailwind bringing challenging conditions to the course with large, white-capping waves.
The Williams' first varsity eight lined up first in Lane 1, with coxswain
Ariana Oppenheimer '26 having to navigate fierce gusts, followed by stroke seat
Courtney FitzMaurice '27,
Audrey Riddle '26,
Vivian Johnson '27,
Ellie Davis '26,
Madeleine Lasell '29,
Claire McDonald '26,
Miranda Miller '29 and
Carolyn Fortin '26 in bow. The crew got off to a chaotic beginning with officials moving to a quick start due to winds, but were able to move along through the water even in such a strong tailwind. Despite the difficulties at the start line, the Ephs surged multiple boat lengths ahead of the pack by the 500-meter mark and continued to push their bow ball farther and farther ahead.
Four seat Lasell reflected on the race, "We stayed calm and collected throughout the whole race despite the conditions. There was a sense of trust and grit in the boat that even when we had an off stroke we could get it back and continue to push the others away from us." The first varsity eight finished with a time of 6:36.7, over 18 seconds ahead of all other crews.
With the tailwind picking up, the Williams' second varsity eight was the second race of the day, led by coxswain
Ayanna Keshav '28, with stroke seat
Maya Tait '26, followed by
Molly McWeeny '26,
Betsy Owens '28,
Lindsay Gadsden '27,
Catherine Farman-Farmaian '26,
Charlotte Ragozin '27,
Annie Refermat '26 and
Anne Moghtader '29 in bow. Due to some crews struggling to lock onto the stake boats, officials started the race as a floating start slightly down the course. The Ephs were not phased by this change, and at 400 meters into the race had bow ball on all other crews. They extended this lead to open water through the remainder of the course, finishing with a time of 6:30.85, almost 28 seconds ahead of second-place WPI.
Seven seat McWeeny acknowledged, "These were tough conditions, but we did a great job as a boat recovering from off strokes and pushing through to the line. It was not perfect, but it was powerful."
The third varsity eight launched last, lining up at the last women's race of the day against sole competitor Connecticut College. The boat was coxed by
Charis Woo '27, with
Jordan Bose '29 stroking, followed by
Isolde Rayman-Moore '28,
Olivia Thurman '27,
Caroline Ripsteen '29,
Annika Binstadt '29,
Rendell Belanger Curren '29,
Laela Clark '28 and
Lily Clemens '28 in bow. Williams had a powerful start, setting the boat up for a confident first 500 meters despite changing winds. The crew broke ahead of Connecticut College quickly and used the second 1,000 meters of the race to drop the split and stay internal despite having an already strong lead.
"We have been practicing at home in strong wake and winds this week, which prepared us well for the conditions," seven seat Rayman-Moore said of the race. "It was an excellent chance to focus on internal motivation since we were up from the start." This was certainly true, with the third varsity eight finishing with a time of 7:07.8, almost 48 seconds ahead of Connecticut College.
Head Coach
Paula Thoms proudly said of the day, "The team showed up today ready to execute the fastest races possible. They rowed well in tough conditions and stayed gritty all the way to the finish line. It was a great step forward for us."
The Ephs are at home Saturday to host the Little Three Championships at Lake Onota in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, against fellow NESCAC schools Trinity and Wesleyan.
