NEW LONDON, Conn. – The No. 1 ranked Wesleyan women's crew team opened the spring season with a dominating performance against No. 11 Coast Guard, earning a first-place finish in all three races from the Thames River on Saturday morning.
The conditions on the Thames were less than ideal as the two sides had to deal with a 20 miles per hour crosswind at the start of the day which shifted into a direct headwind in the final race.
Getting out first, with the best conditions in a brutally tough day of weather, was the varsity 8 race that saw Wesleyan best Coast Guard by more than 23 seconds. The Cardinals clocked in at 6:37.5 while the Bears finished in 7:00.9.
The Cardinals followed that up with a commanding win in the 2
nd varsity 8 as Wesleyan posted a time of 7:11.4 that was more than 41 seconds faster than Coast Guard's 7:55.7.
In the final race of the day, Wesleyan's 3
rd varsity 8 crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 7:37, 19 seconds ahead of the Bears' 7:56.
The two sides were forced to cancel the 4
th varsity 8 race as conditions worsened with the high winds and rough waters.
Wesleyan is back in action next Saturday with a trip to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts for a regatta against host WPI with Colby, Smith, Connecticut College, Clark, and Hamilton also joining in.
Featuring for Wesleyan in the three boats included:
Varsity 8 –
Ava Olson '25 (coxswain),
Anna Merrifield '24,
Cadence Cole '26,
Shayna McCarthy '24,
Alex Stanislaw '25,
Hailey Hutchison '27,
Ruby Roberts '27,
Em Moran '26, and
Nora Printy '26
2nd Varsity 8 –
Noa Pesner '24 (coxswain),
Alex Kuo '26,
Shelagh Coombs '24,
Anne Horton '24,
Elise McCamant '24,
Greta Armbrust '25,
Peyton Fern '25,
Elsa Lawrence '27, and
Sophia Braver '27
3rd Varsity 8 –
Aria Trotta '27 (coxswain),
Aleah Hurwitz '25, Emi Byrne '24,
Julia Lissack '27,
Annabelle Miller '25,
Anna Sewell '27,
Rebecca Schechter '26,
Helen Gies '26, and
Grace Donfield '26
