WORCESTER, Mass.—The top three William Smith College eights wrapped up a weekend of competition on Lake Quinsigamond this morning. The second varsity eight turned in the best finish, placing second in a field of four boats.
A 7-mile-per-hour tailwind gave crews a boost, creating fast times and clean water. The second varsity eight of
Alyssa Deem,
Elizabeth Warren,
Tori Malamas,
Jennifer Sullivan,
Giulia Acchione,
Anna Moreau,
Lauren Pomerantz,
Tatiana Loftus, and
Jackie Steinman went bow ball to bow ball with Tufts to the 1,000-meter mark. The Herons' middle move gained about two seats and they pressed the accelerator, walking out to a one length advantage. Their second 1,000 was fast enough to shut the door on the Jumbos and put them a little over a length down behind the winner, WPI. William Smith finished in a time of 7:12.87, 4.67 seconds behind the Engineers and 3.94 seconds ahead of Tufts.
"With three different women in the boat today from yesterday, it was impressive to see the boat adapt and tweak their race execution," Head Coach
Sandra Chu said. "The boat has really learned a ton over the past few weeks. I would say that they raced very close to flawless."
The Heron 1V, down a rower due to illness, also had to adjust today.
Hannah Glenshaw,
Bridget Kiejna,
Karoline Loretan,
Laurie VanBenschoten,
Annika Linden,
Madeline Cook,
Margaret Cameron,
Emma Lubrano, and
Lizzy Houston faced a field of five boats that included No. 4 Tufts and No. 9 WPI as well as Clark and Liberty League rival Skidmore. The Herons were fighting for second up to the 600-meter mark and then stayed strong in third place behind Tufts and WPI for the remainder of the race.
"We had a very flat first 500 yesterday and struggled with our composure," Chu said. "Today we were hot off the line and that made a big difference for us."
William Smith's 3V, which also had a shuffled lineup, had a strong opening 1,000 and sat second out of four crews at the midpoint of the race. A medical issue in the boat derailed their second 1,000 and they finished fourth in 7:51.72.
"I'm proud of this young crew's ability to handle the situation they were in," Chu said.
The Herons return to the water on Friday, April 28, when they compete in the Liberty League Championships on Fish Creek in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Racing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. William Smith has won six consecutive and nine overall conference championships.
