BOSTON, Mass. - The Simmons College crew team's top Varsity Eight was named the New England Women's and Men's Athletics Conference Women's Rowing Boat of the Week for the week of April 6-12, it was announced today by the conference.

The honor marks the second straight week that a crew from Simmons has earned the award. The Sharks' second Varsity Eight was selected last week.

The eight oars and coxswain for Simmons won their race at the Clark Invitational on April 12 with a time of 7:08.2 for the victory on the 2,000-meter course on Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury, Mass. The Sharks outdistanced second-place finisher University of Vermont in calm conditions by more than 10 seconds (7:08.7). The Sharks' shell was 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.). 

The same eight placed third the day before for Simmons at the Barbara Grant Donahue Cup, which was relocated from Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury, Mass. to the Charles River in Boston/Cambridge, Mass. The Sharks posted a time of 8:46.9 to finish behind the race winner, Williams College (8:25.9) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (8:38.8). 

Simmons will be in action again on Saturday, April 18 when it hosts Wellesley College on the Charles Rivier in Boston/Cambridge, Mass. for a dual competition.