WORCESTER, Mass. - The Simmons women's crew team saw all three of its shells finish third in their respective races at the Donahue Cup this morning on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.
The Sharks' One Varsity Eight placed third in the 2,000-meter course with a time of 7:13.61, behind no. 2 Williams College (7:01.00) and no. 11 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (7:08.96). Simmons finished over 11 seconds ahead of University of Rochester. Senior stroke Chelsea Foster (Avon, Conn.) set the pace with sophomores Phoebe Knox (Scituate, Mass.), Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.), Erin Lilienthal (Niantic, Conn.) and Erica Bartle (Arlington, Mass.) following her. First year Niamh McIntosh-Yee (Excelsior, Minn.) sat in the third seat ahead of senior Jess Randolph (Concord, N.C) and senior bow Jill Bolduc (Methuen, Mass.). Junior coxswain Olivia Smiaroski (Northfield, Mass.) pushed the crew through the morning race.
Williams won the Two Varsity Eight course as well with a winning mark of 7:10.5. WPI held off Simmons for second place, posting a mark of 7:34.05, while the Sharks came in a 7:39.63. Sophomore Elsbeth Colson (Everett, Mass.) sat in the stroke seat, followed by senior Allie Belanger (Blackstone, Mass.), first year Eliana Ruben (Pittsfield, Vt.), sophomores Elizabeth Rea-Wilson (Concord, Mass.), Karina Bercan (Derry, N.H.), senior Abi Smith (Brookline, Mass.), senior Rachel Corning (Ipswich, Mass.) and sophomore bow Alexa Frongillo (Franklin, Mass.). Sophomore Clarice Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) kept the tempo was the coxswain for the shell.
Williams (7:22.8) and WPI (8:14.18) continued the trend of the day, placing first and second respectively in the novice race. The Sharks placed third with a time of 8:14.18. Kit Birch (Mansfield, Mass.) led the first year boat in the stroke seat. Madison Summers (Hudson, N.H.), Jacquelyn Noyes (White River Junction, Vt.), Kellie Cann (Needham, Mass.), Christine Yu (Plainville, Mass.), Kneide Nascimento (Rever, Mass.), Nicole Lee (North Reading, Mass.) all followed with Sara Amina Hassad (Winchester, MA) taking over the bow seat. Melissa Morton (Somers, Conn.) engaged the squad in the coxswain spot.
Simmons returns to the water tomorrow at 10:20 a.m. from Lake Quinsigamond again to compete in the Clark University Invitational.