WORCESTER, Mass. – In a sensational all-around performance featuring three medal-winning performances, the No. 2 nationally ranked Wesleyan women's crew team earned three third-place finishes at the National Invitational Rowing Championships held on Sunday at Lake Quinsigamond.
Headlined by the varsity 8, the third place result for the V8 is the highest finish for the Cardinals at the National Invitational since Wesleyan was the runner-up back in 2000. Wesleyan's V8 continues to climb year-to-year as the Cardinals finish in 11
th place in 2022, improving to 8
th last year, before jumping all the way to 3
rd place in this year's iteration.
The V8 earned a spot in the grand final with a time of 7:10.434, placing second in heat 2 to secure placement. Then in a heated battle for second place, wherein three boats clocked in with less than half a second separating the runner-up to the fourth place finisher, the Cardinals finished in third with a time of 6:55.527. Trinity (6:55.249) was runner-up to Tufts (6:52.089) while Williams (6:55.735) placed fourth in an ultra-competitive race.
Another bronze medal came from the 2
nd varsity 8 as the Cardinals earned the sixth and final spot in the grand final with a time of 7:18.821 in preliminaries. In the grand final, the Cardinals claimed third place, clocking in at 7:17.806, finishing behind Williams (7:09.346) and Tufts (7:10.582).
Wesleyan's 3
rd varsity 8 earned a spot in the grand final by way of a runner-up finish in heat 2 as the Cardinals finished in 7:30.513. In the 3V8 grand final, Wesleyan placed fifth with a time of 7:34.842.
The Cardinals fielded one more boat as the open 4 captured third place, becoming the third Wesleyan boat to medal on the day, crossing the line in 8:31.833.
The Cardinals await news of a berth into the 2024 NCAA Championships. The selection show is scheduled for 4:30 PM on Tuesday at NCAA.com.
Featuring for the Cardinals on the day:
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
Alex Kuo '25
2nd Varsity 8 -
Noa Pesner '26 (coxswain),
Shelagh Coombs '24,
Hailey Hutchison '27,
Elise McCamant '24,
Anne Horton '24,
Peyton Fern '25,
Greta Armbrust '25,
Sophia Braver '27, and
Julia Lissack '27
3rd Varsity 8 -
Aria Trotta '27 (coxswain),
Aleah Hurwitz '25,
Emilia Byrne '24,
Elsa Lawrence '27,
Annabelle Miller '25,
Helen Gies '26,
Rebecca Schechter '26,
Meg Bigelow '24, and
Grace Donfield '26
Varsity 4 -
Gabby Ager '27 (coxswain),
Victoria Pereira '27,
Stella Tollis '27,
Anna Sewell '27, and
Marin Theis '27
