CAMBRIDGE/BOSTON, Mass. - The Simmons College crew team completed its opening Spring season weekend with three races vs. visiting number two Bates College and Harvard-Radcliffe Lightweights this morning on the Charles River in Cambridge/Boston, Mass.
The teams faced 30-degree temperatures and a head wind that slightly increased throughout the morning, but the water was great for racing.
Harvard-Radcliffe opened the morning with a victory over Bates and Simmons' Varsity One Eights with a time of 7:14.1 on the 2,000-meter course. Bates, which is ranked second in the nation in the most recent USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association III Collegiate Rowing Poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells, was right behind, coming in at 7:22.1. The Sharks placed third with a mark of 8:00.4. Junior Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.) led the way for Simmons in the stroke seat, ahead of classmate Phoebe Knox (Scituate, Mass.), first year Kate Krawczuk (Harrisburg, Pa.), sophomore Madison Summers (Hudson, N.H.), graduate student Jess Randolph (Concord, N.C.), seniors Karina Bercan (Derry, N.H.) and Captain Alexa Frongillo (Franklin, Mass.) with first year Sabrina Belozerova (Newton, Mass.) sitting on the bow seat ahead of junior coxswain Clarice Johnson (Norwell, Mass.).
Harvard-Radcliffe and Bates were within eight seconds of one another again in the Second Varsity Eight contest. Harvard-Radcliffe prevailed in 7:28.5, while the Bobcats posted a mark of 7:36. Simmons finished third with a contingent of sophomore Eleanor Pullan (Northampton, Mass.) leading from the stroke position with junior Elizabeth Rea-Wilson (Concord, Mass.) in the seventh seat followed by classmate Kellie Cann (Needham, Mass.), first years Olivia Hamilton (Sunapee, N.H.), Brianna Patterson (Pelham, N.H.), Rebecca Ramsey (Jefferson, Mass.), Emily Saunders (Hebron, Conn.) and sophomore Captain Nicole Lee (North Reading, Mass.) with rookie coxswain Ally Fecteau Burlington, Conn.) calling the commands.
The Bates Third Varsity Eight pulled out a win in the final race of the day, clocking in at 7:53.3 to edge Harvard-Radcliffe in eight seconds. Bates' Four Varsity Eight finished third with a time of 8:19.7, while the Sharks Third Eight crew crossed the finish at 8:46.1 First year Hannah Dike (Leominster, Mass.) established the pace from the stroke seat, followed by classmate Sarah Walsh (Holbrook, Mass.), sophomore Christine Yu (Plainville, Mass.), first years Kyetesie Heller (Sharon, Mass.), Lily Pennington (Watertown, Mass.), Jess Rush (Marion, Mass.),Chloe Feuerstein (Winchester, Mass.), first year bow seat Sarah MacEachen (Hollis, N.H.) and sophomore coxswain Melissa Morton (Somers, Conn.).
Simmons will compete again in a full weekend of action, starting on Saturday, April 8 when it competes in a race in Malden, Mass. with Tufts University, United States Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College. The Sharks will compete on Lake Quinsigamond, the following day in the Clark Invitational.