The No. 10 William Smith rowing team battled No. 9 Wellesley College, No. 3 Williams College and MIT on the Charles River in Boston, Mass., today.
 
The Heron varsity eight finished fourth out of four teams. The William Smith second varsity eight took third of four, and the third varsity four finished third of three teams.
 
"This weekend's races provided us with a great opportunity to see the holes in our early season racing," said Heron Head Coach Sandra Chu. "We definitely have a youthful squad with limited collegiate experiences so the difficult conditions we faced in the basin were a bit out of our scope.  Even given that, however, each boat demonstrated significant skills improvements and mastery.  The 1V had the right amount of risk; the 2V had impressive composure; and the 3V4 nailed their start."
 
The Heron varsity eight powered by sophomore Elisabeth Rowedder, sophomore Anna Moreau, first-year Sarah Laferrera, senior Elizabeth Warren, sophomore Annika Linden, senior Jennifer Sullivan, first-year Molly Dexter, sophomore Emma Lubrano, and first-year Taryn Wenberg crossed the finish line in 8:26.274. Williams took first place in 8:04.800, MIT was second with a time of 8:09.768, and Wellesley was third in 8:10.595.
 
William Smith's second varsity eight of first-year Susan Hurwitz, first-year Alexandra Deku, senior Nicole Guardino, sophomore Tori Malamas, senior Carey Sevier, sophomore Giulia Acchione, first-year Julia Walters, first-year Gillian Casserly, and  sophomore Catherine DiCara clocked a time of 8:41.434 for third place. The host Blue earned the win with a time of 8:13.704 and the Ephs were second crossing the line in 8:14.591. MIT rounded out the field finishing 10 seconds behind the Herons (8:51.710).
 
The Heron 3V4 powered by junior Hannah Baron, junior Katie Frohman, junior Madelaine Hamilton, junior Tatiana Loftus, first-year Emma Rosser finished with a time of 10:58.580. Williams took home the win crossing the line in 10:09.100 and Wellesley was second with a time of 10:31.535.
 
"Moving forward into next week, we're confident about the work we need to do and our ability to do it to achieve our top end speed," said Chu.
 
The Herons race against Rochester, originally scheduled for April 8, has been postponed. William Smith will be back in action on Saturday, April 14, when it hosts No. 5 Hamilton and RIT for racing on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.