WORCESTER, Mass. – Racing in tough conditions against three Top 10 ranked boats, the No. 1 ranked Wesleyan women's crew team took care of business with wins coming in the varsity 8 and 2
nd varsity 8. With the two first place finishes, Wesleyan claims the Jennifer McLaughlin Cup for the fifth time since 2016.
Opening with the varsity 8 and 2
nd varsity 8 heats, Wesleyan sealed spots in the grand final of both with convincing preliminary wins. Wesleyan's V8 placed first in heat 1 with a time of 6:50 while the 2V8 led the pack in heat 1 at 6:55.30.
Conditions worsened later in the morning, with tailwinds of 15 miles per hour and choppy water in the final 1000m of the grand finals.
First up was the V8 where the top-ranked Cardinals earned the top spot, crossing the line in 6:33.07, ahead of runner-up No. 9 Hamilton who finished in 6:36.69. Other boats in the V8 grand final included No. 10 WPI (6:39.03) and No. 6 Smith (6:40.34) while No. 12 Clark rounded out the field (6:55.48).
Wesleyan claimed another first place finish in the 2V8 grand final, as the Cardinals topped the field with a time of 6:40.01. That time was more than seven seconds faster than Smith who clocked in at 6:47.46 while Hamilton was third (6:50.46), WPI fourth (7:01.38), and Clark finished fifth (7:07.28).
The Cardinals also fielded a boat in the 3V8 race and placed third out of five boats with a time of 7:17.36. Hamilton picked up the win at 7:06.1 while Smith was the runner-up at 7:10.02. Wesleyan also fielded an all-first-year boat in the V4 with the Cardinals placing second out of three with a time of 8:39.94.
Wesleyan will be tested next week in a spotlight regatta featuring the top four ranked boats in the country. The Cardinals will be up against No. 2 Tufts, No. 3 Wellesley, and No. 4 Bates next Saturday from the Malden River (home of the Jumbos).
Featuring for Wesleyan in the four boats included:
Varsity 8 –
Ava Olson '25 (coxswain),
Alex Stanislaw '25,
Shayna McCarthy '24,
Cadence Cole '26,
Anna Merrifield '24,
Ruby Roberts '27,
Em Moran '26,
Nora Printy '26, and
Hailey Hutchison '27
2nd Varsity 8 –
Noa Pesner '24 (coxswain),
Alex Kuo '26,
Shelagh Coombs '24,
Anne Horton '24,
Elise McCamant '24,
Greta Armbrust '25,
Emilia Byrne '24,
Elsa Lawrence '27, and
Peyton Fern '25
3rd Varsity 8 –
Aria Trotta '27 (coxswain),
Julia Lissack '27,
Rebecca Schechter '26,
Aleah Hurwitz '25,
Annabelle Miller '25,
Anna Sewell '27,
Grace Donfield '26,
Helen Gies '26, and
Meg Bigelow '24
4th Varsity 4 –
Gabby Ager '27 (coxswain),
Victoria Pereira '27,
Stella Tollis '27,
Dana Hennings '27, and
Marin Theis '27
