WORCESTER, Mass. – The No. 4 ranked Wesleyan women's crew team enjoyed a successful day out on Lake Quinsigamond on Saturday as the Cardinals captured gold in the varsity 4 while the varsity 8 placed 3
rd out of 20 boats at the 2024 New England Championships. The third-place finish for the varsity 8 is the highest-finish for the Cardinals at the New England Championship since 2018 and a six-spot improvement from Wesleyan's ninth-place varsity 8 finish at New England's last season.
Competing against Bowdoin, two Amherst boats, Middlebury, Merrimack, and New Hampshire, the Cardinals' varsity 4 earned first place in a close finish with runner-up Bowdoin. Wesleyan's boat finished with a time of 8:36.18 to earn gold as the Polar Bears clocked in at 8:37.96.
In what very likely could be a preview for the NCAA Championship in a few weeks, the Cardinals' varsity 8 showed well in the competition as the Cardinals opened with a time of 7:01.92 in preliminaries, finishing second in heat 2 to earn a guaranteed spot in the grand final. With the top four ranked crews all competing against one another in the grand final, Wesleyan finished in third place with a time of 6:57.65 which was just under one second behind Tufts (6:56.69). The Cardinals and Jumbos both finished behind MIT (6:53.06) who competes at the NCAA D1 level in crew.
The 2
nd varsity 8 battled to a second-place finish in heat 1 of preliminaries, staving off Bates to earn a spot in the grand final with a time of 7:06.33. In the grand final, Wesleyan went on to finish in sixth place out of 17 boats with a time of 7:11.83.
Wesleyan's 3
rd varsity 8 had one of it's best days on the water all season. Coming in seeded seventh, the Cardinals placed second in heat 1 of preliminaries with a time of 7:26.43, earning a grand final appearance. Racing against Tufts, Williams, Bowdoin, Trinity, and Bates, the Cardinals went on to place fourth with a time of 7:32.39 in the grand final.
The Cardinals are back at Lake Quinsigamond next Sunday, May 12 with the National Invitational.
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
