WORCESTER, Mass. – Racing against the best competition in the country, the Wesleyan women's crew team saw their 2
nd varsity 8 boat win a title, placing first overall in the grand finale to win the competition. Wesleyan's varsity 8 claimed an eighth-place finish at Lake Quinsigamond on Saturday to highlight the action for the Cardinals.
Less than one week removed from a third-place finish at the same course, racing against the same competition at the New England Championships, Wesleyan's 2V8 showed they have what it takes to compete against the likes of Bates, Tufts, Wellesley and Williams as the Cardinals defeated all four in the grand final with a time of 6:50.35. After losing to Bates by more than two seconds at New England's, Wesleyan defeated the Bobcats by nearly three seconds at the National Invitational to take the crown. That winning boat included:
Noa Pesner '24 (coxswain),
Alex Kuo '26,
Meg Alberding '23,
Elise McCamant '24,
Shelagh Coombs '24,
Elizabeth Rowe '23,
Peyton Fern '25,
Em Moran '26, and
Samiya Shetty '24.
The Cardinals' varsity 8 raced to a 7:16.64 in preliminaries to advance to the petite final with what was the eighth-fastest time in the morning session. Racing again in the final in the afternoon, Wesleyan crossed the line in 6:47.401 to capture a runner-up finish in the petite final, behind only Ithaca (6:46.291) by just over a second. That runner-up result gave Wesleyan an eighth-place finish out of 19 boats.
Wesleyan grabbed another win in a final, this time from the 3
rd varsity 8, who captured a win in the petite final, earning a seventh-place finish overall. The Cardinals shaved more than 16 seconds off their preliminary time (7:25.297) as the boat crossed the line in 7:08.785 to win the petite final over runner-up Ithaca.
Wesleyan now awaits news of an NCAA Championship bid on Tuesday, May 16 at 4:30 PM.
