BOSTON/CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - For the second straight weekend the Simmons College crew team battled intense winds and for the second straight week, the second Varsity Eight finished second in their race, to lead the Sharks at the Barbara Grant Donahue Cup this morning on the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge, Mass.

The Simmons second Varsity Eight overcame headwinds of 20 miles per hour and a choppy first 1,000 meters to edge out Worcester Polytechnic Institute by six seconds with a time of 9:09.5 on the 2,000-meter course. Williams College won the race with a time of 8:39.8, while WPI posted a mark of 9:15.5 and Connecticut College clocked in at 9:32.2. First year Erica Bartle (Arlington, Mass.) sat in the stroke seat for the Sharks, followed by senior Eva Weber (Guilford, Conn.), first years Michelle Crosier (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Eleanor Pullan (Northampton, Mass.), juniors Jess Randolph (Concord, N.C.), Rachel Corning (Ipswich, Mass.), Abi Smith (Brookline, Mass.) and first year Karina Bercan (Derry, N.H.) on the bow with classmate Clarice Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) pushing the crew from the coxswain seat.

Williams also took the top Varsity Eight race with a time of 8:25.9, while the eight from Simmons, comprised of first years Phoebe Knox (Scituate, Mass.), Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.), juniors Chelsea Foster (Avon, Conn.), Sophie Stone (Greenland, N.H.), senior Nicole Poirier (Wayland, Mass.), first year Erin Lilienthal (East Lyme, Conn.), senior Laura Matt (Fairfax Station, Va.), junior bow Jill Bolduc (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore coxswain Olivia Smiaroski (Northfield, Mass.) turned in a time of 8:46.9 to finish third. WPI placed second with a time of 8:38.8 and Connecticut College finished fourth on an effort of 9:30.5.

The Sharks will compete again tomorrow at the Clark Invitational on Lake Quinsigamond in Shewsbury, Mass. with a 10:30 a.m. start.