M. and W. Rowing Teams Successful At New England Tourney

The Trinity College men's and women's rowing team led the New England Rowing Championships in overall points last weekend on April 30 in Worcester, Mass., on Lake Quinsigamond.

All of the crews began Saturday morning with heats, in order to qualify for the grand finals later that afternoon. Crews needed to finish top two, or in some cases, top three, in their heats in order to qualify for the grand final, otherwise they would have raced in the petite final. Crews in the petite final raced for places seven through 13 in the tournament overall, while crews in the grand final competed for places one through six.

The boats garnered points for their respective teams based on their placement in the final races.

The men placed first overall as a team among the fourteen teams competing in the tournament. All of the crews reached the grand finals, and the varsity, second varsity, third varsity, and novice boats all placed second in their respective finals.  The second novice boat beat Boston College with a time of 6:15.248. 

The men's varsity eight placed second behind Williams College, who has won New England's for the past three consecutive years.  Williams' varsity boat claimed gold with a finishing time of 5:50.3, six seconds ahead of the Bantams who finished at the 5:56.442 mark.  Despite this second place finish, the Bantams are looking forward to next weekend, which is the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship.   It will be their final race of the season.

The women's team also found success last weekend, placing second overall and defending their no. 5 national ranking among NCAA Division III teams.  They came into the tournament with a fourth place ranking, and their satisfactory finish puts the team in a good position for the NCAA Division III Championship Regatta, which takes place in two weekends on May 27 and May 28.  Their spot in the NCAAs is still dependent on how successful they are next weekend at the ECACs, though their solid finish at the New Englands greatly increases their chances of going to NCAAs.  The first varsity boat got a time of 6:45.792, finishing just behind first-placed Williams' Ephs, who finished with a 6:34.024 time, and Wellesley College, who finished third.  All of the women's boats reached the grand final, with the second varsity eight finishing fourth and the third varsity and novice boats placing second, behind Williams, in their finals.  Senior rower Mina Aiken is proud of how the team performed. 

"Everyone was brimming with positive energy and anticipation for the other crews.  It is the first year in my four years of Trinity rowing that I've seen all the girls on the beach, cheering on every on every one of our crews that went by.  That kind of support is going to keep the team's fire going through ECACs."

The Lady Bantams are looking forward to the ECACs this upcoming weekend and are working hard at practice in anticipation of doing well. 

Senior captian Jaime Callahan says, "I'm not sure how we will do next weekend, but as long as we can stay focused on what is going well in our boats and not be distracted by what our competition is doing, I'll be excited to see what we can do." 

The men and women's results combined to push the teams ahead of Williams in overall point standings. The women's second place overall finish and the men's first place team finish gave the entire Trinity team more points than any other team in the tournament. Both teams remain very positive as they head into their next week of training and are looking forward to their next match-up in Worcester, Mass.