In a weekend of mixed results, the women’s varsity 4 won the Little Three crew Championships at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. on Saturday, while the men’s and women’s varsity 8 crews fell to tough Williams squads. Both Junior Varsity squads pulled out impressive performances, as the men maintained their unbeaten streak and the women were victorious as well.
Originally slated to take place at Williams, the competition was forced to move to the more neutral Worcester course due to poor conditions and ice on the water at the lake in Williamstown.
The men’s varsity squad had been anxious for this race since the start of the season, eager to prove itself before the New England’s and win the Little Three’s for the first time in seven years. Following the start, the men began to walk through Williams.
“We had bow to stern by the first 500 meters, but then they began to walk through. They shortened our lead to about three seats by the halfway point, and though we tried to fight off their attack they eventually passed us,” said Nathan Boon ’06. “Everyone here gave it their all, but today it wasn’t good enough.”
Williams won with a time of 6 minutes 34.4 seconds, while the time for Wes was 6:38.5.
Though disgruntled by the race, the varsity squad was able to cheer on their junior varsity companions to another jaw-dropping victory. They won by 42 seconds over Williams with a time of 7:02.2.
“It was ridiculous,” said Stan Parish ’06. “We had a margin right off of the start and were very composed. The younger guys really stepped up for this race. They’re really becoming very disciplined.”
The race caused a little stir of controversy. Following the race, the Williams crew initially refused to relinquish their ‘betting shirts’ (crew t-shirts giving by the losing crews to the winning teams) because some members of the Williams junior varsity squad had raced in the third varsity four race (which Amherst won) and claimed that they did not want to give out shirts more than once. They eventually succumbed to pressure from the fans, admitted their defeat, and gave the Wes junior varsity team the betting shirts.
“Well, we’ve grown to expect that type of stuff from them. But hey, we won by 42 seconds,” said stroke-seat Billy Shaw ’05. “I think they just didn’t know how to deal with that.”
The women fell to two William’s crews in a race where they found themselves trailing from the start. The times for the race were 7:45.7 for Williams A, 7:49.8 for Williams B, and 8:01.9 for Wesleyan.
Four members of the women’s eight immediately had to jump into a four upon docking, in order to compete in the varsity four competition. The women won this race, beating both little three rivals with a time of 8:47.6.
“It was a close race, but we managed to hold the lead by the end. Our coxswain Amy Nebenhaus [’07] did a great job. She kept us motivated the entire time, calling power pieces and never letting us lose seats to the other crews,” said captain Nicole Seminara ’04.
The women’s novice eight also won, claiming the lead early in the race then holding off the William’s sprint at the finish. They finished with a time of 8:06.7.
Both teams face off against Connecticut College and archrival Trinity in Worcester this weekend. The racing will be intense: the Trinity men’s and women’s teams have both been near perfect this spring season.
Leave a Reply