No. 13 Crew Places Third at NEWMAC Championship

WORCESTER, Mass. - The No. 13 Simmons College women's crew team placed third at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference women's rowing championship this morning on Lake Quinsigamond. The Sharks tallied 24 points, behind Wellesley College, which scored 40 points to earn its sixth consecutive NEWMAC crown, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which totaled 28 points.
Posted: Apr 23, 2016

WORCESTER, Mass. - The No. 13 Simmons College women's crew team placed third at the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference women's rowing championship this morning on Lake Quinsigamond. The Sharks tallied 24 points, behind Wellesley College, which scored 40 points to earn its sixth consecutive NEWMAC crown, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which totaled 28 points. 

Smith College finished fourth with 16 points, followed by United States Coast Guard Academy (10), Mount Holyoke College (10) and Clark University (2).

Simmons First Varsity Eight earned the bronze medal with a time of 6:54.50. Wellesley won the race in 6:37.62, while WPI finished second with a mark of 6:44.85. Senior Chelsea Foster (Avon, Conn.) pulled from her familiar stroke seat, followed by sophomore Phoebe Knox (Scituate, Mass.). Classmate Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.) was seated sixth and senior Sophie Stone (Greenland, N.H.) followed before sophomore Erica Bartle (Arlington, Mass.). Sophomore Erin Lilienthal (Niantic, Conn.) held down the third seat with senior Jess Randolph (Concord, N.C) in the second spot. Senior Jill Bolduc (Methuen, Mass.) rowed from the bow. The shell was pushed by junior Olivia Smiaroski (Northfield, Mass.) from the coxswain seat.

The Sharks placed third in the Second Varsity Eight race as well, clocking in at 7:10.74. Sophomore Elsbeth Colson (Everett, Mass.) set the pace from the stroke seat, while classmate Elizabeth Rea-Wilson (Concord, Mass.) followed suit. First year Eliana Ruben (Pittsfield, Mass.) continued a strong spring from the sixth seat, followed by senior Allie Belanger (Blackstone, Mass.). First year Niamh McIntosh-Yee (Excelsior, Minn.) also continues to make strides on the varsity level in the fourth seat, ahead of senior Abi Smith (Brookline, Mass.). Sophomore Karina Bercan (Derry, N.H.) rounded out the youthful contingent of rowers for Simmons and classmate Clarice Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) gave direction as the coxswain.
Wellesley and WPI finshed first and second again. The Blue turned in a time of 6:50.11, while the Engineers crossed the finish with a mark of 7:01.79. 


In perhaps their best race of the year, the Sharks turned in a second-place showing in the Novice race with a time of 7:33.42 to finish behind Wellesley's time of 7:06.89. WPI finished third just over three seconds behind Simmons with a time of 7:36.46. The all-newcomer shell for the Sharks featured Kit Birch (Mansfield, Mass.) in the stroke seat, followed by fist years Madison Summers (Hudson, N.H.) and Jacqueline Noyes (White River Junction, Vt.). First year Kellie Cann (Needham, N.H.) and Christine Yu (Plainville, Mass.) took over the fifth and fourth seats, respectively, while first year Kneide Nascimento (Revere, Mass.) helped power the crew from the number three seat. First year Nicole Lee (North Reading, Mass.) sat just before first year bow Sara Amina Hassad (Winchester, Mass.). Melissa Morton (Somers, Conn.) kept the shell on point from the coxswain perch.

The Sharks will return to Lake Quinsigamond on Saturday, April 30 to compete in the New England Championship.

Scoreboard
  • Sat, 04/27 Women's Rowing NEWMAC Championship 7/7 (8:17.49) (8:30 a.m.) RC | V | R
  • Sat, 04/20 Women's Rowing Assumption, Bowdoin, Bryant, Mount Holyoke & Coast Guard 5/6 (8:13.92) (10:00 A.M.) RC | R
  • Sat, 04/13 Women's Rowing Barbara Grant Donahue Cup 4/4 (8:48.2) (8:30 a.m.) RC | V
  • Sat, 04/06 Women's Rowing MIT Lightweights & Bates 4/4 (8:46.8) (9:20 a.m. ) RC | R
  • Sun, 10/22 Women's Rowing Head of the Charles 31/38 (21:53.422) (3:23 P.M.) RC | R