BOSTON, Mass. – It was a solid day of racing for the Mount Holyoke College rowing team at the 2015 Head of the Charles Regatta. In the 51st edition of the historic event, the Lyons saw its boat finish 26th overall in the Collegiate Eight race.

The Lyons boat, which featured senior captain Ashley Avila, senior Rosalind Waltz-Peters, junior captain Chenyue Lu, junior Meghan Ryan, sophomores Sophie Rabinow, Ariya Lawson, Nicole Villacres and Rumi Handen, along with junior coxswain and captain Leela Woody, posted an overall time of 19:16.757.

MHC powered their way to first marker at 4:32.452 and advanced to the Weld Boathouse in a time of 6:10.195 for a total race time of 10:42.647. It took 5:26.575 for the Lyons to advance to the Cambridge Boathouse, for a total time of 16:09.222. Mount Holyoke finally crossed the line with its time of 19:16.757.

The Williams College 'A' boat won this year's event in a time of 17:25.577, followed by Mercyhurst (17:31.510) and Bates College (17:36.058) – the defending NCAA DIII Champion – to round out the top three.  NEWMAC-rival Wellesley saw its 'A' boat finish fourth in a time of 17:40.790, while the Blue's 'B' boat was 15th with a time of 18:27.283. Fellow NEWMAC-rival Smith was 28th with a time of 19:27.870 and Clark crossed the line in 31st with a time of 20:24.383.

Mount Holyoke returns to action on Sunday, November 1 when it hosts the 2015 Seven Sisters Championship at the MHC Boathouse on the Connecticut River.

V8 Lineup: Leela Woody (coxswain), Ashley Avila (S), Rosalind Waltz-Peters (2), Chenyue Lu (3), Ariya Lawson (4), Sophie Rabinow (5), Meghan Ryan (6), Nicole Villacres (7), Rumi Handen (8)

Still photos from the 51st Head of the Charles courtesy of the HOC Live Webcast. Cover Photo taken from the Cambridge Boathouse crossing.