BOSTON, Mass. – The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) recently announced its weekly award winners in rowing and the Mount Holyoke College varsity eight boat has been tabbed for Boat of the Week recognition. The Lyons boat posted victories on both Saturday and Sunday during competition on Lake Quinsigamond.
Mount Holyoke opened the weekend with a race against the University of Vermont and Clark University on Saturday. The varsity eight powered its way to a time of 7:01.7, pushing past UVM (7:16.8) and the Cougars (7:21.2) by an impressive margin.
The Lyons then finished first overall on Sunday, beating out five other boats, including conference-rivals Simmons and Clark. MHC recorded a time of 7:07.4 for the win, edging out Simmons (7:07.7). Union (7:11.1), Franklin & Marshall (7:14.7), Clark (7:30.5) and UMass-Lowell (7:50.1) rounded out the six-boat field on the on the 2,000-meter course.
The lineups for both races this weekend were nearly identical with the exception of the coxswain, which switched from junior Samantha Marsden (Eugene, Ore./Churchill) on Saturday to senior Kirsten Therrien (Putnam, Conn./Pomfret School) on Sunday.
Positions eight through one on both days featured junior captain Hannah Arbach (Springfield, Va./Lake Braddock), first year Meghan Ryan (West Point, N.Y./James I. O'Neill), junior Rebecca Matwijkow (Phoenix, Ariz./Phoenix Country Day School), junior Emily Loughlin (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining), senior Casey McClellan (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle), first year Sarah Ramirez (Hanover, N.H./The Carlbrook School), first year Alexis Andrus (Spofford, N.H. / The Dublin School) and senior Cara Murphy (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights)
Since the start of the spring season, the Lyons varsity eight has been outstanding, opening the slate with a third-place finish at Tufts before the two victories last weekend. The squad also had a solid showing during the fall season, finishing seventh in the Snake Regatta and fourth in their race and second overall in the team standings at the Seven Sisters Championships.
Mount Holyoke returns to Lake Quinsigamond next Saturday when it competes at the 2014 NEWMAC Championship Regatta. The event, which is hosted by Clark University, gets underway at 8:30am.
