The men’s and women’s crew teams rowed in the New England Championships over the weekend, with the women finishing seventh out of 14 boats and the men coming in fifth of out of ten entries. The races were held on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. The Cardinal women have concluded their action for 2008-09, while the men will finish in the ECAC Championships next weekend.

The Wesleyan men finished third in the preliminary heat with a time of 6:09.2, behind Trinity (6:02.3) and WPI (6:05.8) but well ahead of UMass (6:18.9) and URI (6:19.2), to qualify for the grand final. The Cardinals’ varsity eight boat of Ross Heinemann ’09, Gael Hagan ’09, Charlie Weiss ’09, Elliott Skopin ’11, Terrence Word ’11, Gilder Keeler ’11, Parker Cook ’10, Ben Roberts ’09 and coxswain Jenny Moyer ’11 finished the grand final in 6:15.7, placing fifth behind Williams, Trinity, Bates, and WPI and ahead of Coast Guard.

Wesleyan’s second varsity eight took third in the heat (6:26.7), just behind Williams (6:22.2) and well behind top finisher Trinity (6:05.4) but ahead of Colby (6:36.1). The Cardinals covered the 2,000-meter course in 6:36.5 for sixth in the grand final. The Cardinals’ second varsity four finished 11th overall, taking sixth in the heat (8:02.5) and fifth in the petite final (7:58.1), and Wesleyan’s novice four finished third in the heat (7:44.0) and second in the petite final (7:43.6, just under five seconds behind Tufts) for eighth place overall.

The women’s varsity eight boat of Elaine Lauriat ’09, Claire Tradewell ’11, Catie Steidl ’11, Emilie Kimball ’11, Becca Schofield ’11, Greer Dent ’12, Sofia Warner ’09, Beth Ogata ’09 and coxswain Sami Pop ’11 finished the heat in 6:57.7, behind only Williams (6:49.6) and New Hampshire (6:53.1). The Cardinals cruised to first place in the petite final, clocking in at 7:13.1, well ahead of second-place Vermont (7:18.3), for seventh overall of the 14 entries. Wesleyan’s novice eight finished ninth of 13 boats, placing third in the heat (7:28.6) and third in the petite final (7:37.7, just 0.3 seconds behind Colby). The Cardinals’ second novice eight took second in the grand final (8:00.8), just behind Vermont, to finish second of the five entrants.

The Cardinal men will participate in the ECAC Championships this Saturday and Sunday in Camden, N.J.