SHREWSBURY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College rowing team fielded three varsity eights and competed well in a large early-season regatta Saturday on Lake Quinsigamond, with the Lyons' competition including Clark, Connecticut College, the University of Rochester, Pacific Lutheran, Washington College, Williams, and WPI.
"Great racing from the whole team today," said head coach Cara Murphy '14. "They did well translating what we've been practicing this week into speed on the water."
The day was highlighted by Mount Holyoke's first varsity eight reaching the WV8 Grand Final in the afternoon. The Lyons' WV8 began the morning with a second-place finish among four boats, beating third-place Washington College by a 3.02-second margin to advance to the afternoon Grand Final. Mount Holyoke finished the 2,000-meter course in 7:09.72, second behind Clark (7:01.9) and ahead of Washington College (7:12.74) and Pacific Lutheran University (7:35.95).
The Lyons' WV8 advanced to a high-caliber five-boat Grand Final, finishing fifth (7:36.31) behind Williams (7:04.9), WPI (7:08.99), Clark (7:16.68), and Rochester (7:31.1).
Mount Holyoke's W2V8 placed third out of four boats in its morning heat, posting a time of 7:48.13, ahead of PLU (8:14.31) and trailing Clark (7:23.2) and Washington College (7:35.63).
The Lyons' W2V8 proceeded to the Petite Final later in the morning and placed a close second among three boats, with a time of 8:05.14 to 8:01.26 for Connecticut College's winning boat, with PLU (8:52.48) a distant third.
Mount Holyoke also fielded a boat in the W3V8 division, which raced head-to-head against Clark with a time of 8:19.27 to Clark's 7:52.15.
Mount Holyoke will return to the same site next Saturday to compete in dual races against Assumption College and the Coast Guard Academy.
Mount Holyoke Boat Lineups:
1V - Bow: Meghan French; 2: Liv Romanowsky; 3: Jocelyn Greer; 4: Jill Slatch; 5: Piper LaPointe; 6: Gwyn Munroe 7: Emma Waldron; Stroke: Lilla Carroll; Cox: Miranda Hull.
2V - Bow: Annika Smart; 2: Maire Kettner; 3: Piper Davidson; 4: Elsa Kulatunga; 5: Ava Rawlings; 6: Clay Halpern; 7: Caroline Odlin-Brewer; Stroke: Mack Windus; Cox: Jennifer Butler.
3V: Bow: Emmy McCormack; 2: Dina Markovich-Koyfman 3: Holly Wrampelmeier; 4: Avni Vallab; 5: Evelyn Griffin; 6: Abby Files; 7: Zoe Wolfel; Stroke: Leyla Guven; Cox: Dara Weingarten.
