BOSTON, Mass.—For the third time in the last four years, the William Smith rowing team's varsity four posted a top-10 finish at the Head of the Charles Regatta. The Herons finished sixth in a 40-team field in the Women's Collegiate four event.
 
The Herons V4, which was powered by senior Ava Lee, senior Isabella De Nes, sophomore Leah Wiebe, sophomore Meghan Bartholomay and sophomore Olivia Sainsbury, traversed the Charles River course with a time of 19:30.326. It was Lee's third top-10 finish in the collegiate four race at the HOCR. She was also the coxswain in 2021 (7th) and 2022 (10th) De Nes was also in the boat in 2021 and logged her second top10 finish.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"The leadership from our senior captains, Isabella De Nes and Ava Lee was outstanding throughout the weekend and the crew was locked in and ready to race  as a result," Head Coach Paul Bugenhagen said. "This is a crew with deep trust in each other and we were all very happy with the result today. This crew and the entire team have been working with focus all fall and last week's result and certainly this week's result reinforce our commitment to our plan. I'm very proud of the crew and I'm looking forward to our final week of fall racing at home next weekend."
 
ABOUT THE REGATTA
The Head of the Charles is one of the largest regattas in the world. Boats race down a 3-mile route on the Charles River, which separates Boston from Cambridge. Teams row from Boston University's DeWolfe Boathouse to just short of Northeastern University's Henderson Boathouse.
 
INSIDE THE RACE

• William Smith was the 18th boat to start the race and passed three boats on the water.
• The Herons had the 12th fastest time at the Riverside Boathouse, posting a time of 4:35.777.
• William Smith had the sixth fastest time at the Weld Boathouse, stopping the clock at 10:41.094.
• The Herons also had the sixth fastest time at the Cambridge Boat Club, clocking in at 16:06.528.
• It was William Smith's best finish at the Head of the Charles since winning a bronze medal in the collegiate eights event in 2013 and the Herons' highest finish in the collegiate four since 2008 when it captured a bronze medal in the collegiate four event.

 
UP NEXT
William Smith will be back in action next Saturday, Oct. 26, when it hosts the annual Challenge on the Canal to conclude its fall racing season. Racing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.