WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Simmons College First Varsity Eight crew squad placed second in the Third Final of the National Invitational Rowing Championship today on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. The Sharks Second Varsity Eight placed fourth in their Third Final race. The regatta was the last competition of the 2017-18 season for the crew team and the final event for Simmons Athletics for the season.

The Sharks found themselves in a fierce battle for second place in the First Varsity Eight Third Final, bunched up with Trinity College (Conn.) and Saint Lawrence University, with the three shells separated by 1.1 seconds as they crossed the finish line. Simmons 1V8 edged out Trinity by .447 seconds to place second by just under a half second with a time of 6:56.223, ahead of the Bantam's mark of 6:56.670. Saint Lawrence clocked in at 6:57.319. Colby College won the race with a time of 6:49.802. The Sharks raced on flat, sun-splashed water, which was much different than their morning preliminary run under cloudy skies and on some choppy waters. The final was the last race for Simmons senior coxswain Clarice Johnson (Norwell, Mass.) and Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.), who pulled from the sixth seat for the Sharks. First year Eleanor Thidemann (Belmont, Mass.) rowed from the stroke seat, head of classmate Samantha Kelsey (Salt Lake City, Utah) in the seven seat. Fellow first year Steffi Gaehde (Brookline, Mass.) was followed by sophomores Peizhu Pam Qian (Beijing, China/Developing Virtue Secondary Girls School (Calif.)), Emily Saunders (Hebron, Conn.), Hannah Dike (Leominster, Mass.) and Sabrina Belozerova (Newton, Mass.) in the bow seat.

The Simmons 1V8 placed fifth in the morning heat with a time of 6:53.200, finishing ahead of Saint Lawrence by more than three seconds with Worcester Polytechnic Institute winning the heat with a time of 6:30.211. Bates College won the day's Grand Final with a time of 6:24.113.

The Sharks Second Varsity Eight raced in rough, choppy waters in the morning heat, placing fifth with a time of 7:20.493, outpacing Saint Lawrence by just under seven seconds. Wellesley College won the heat with a mark of 6:50.775. The Simmons shell of sophomore coxswain Ally Fecteau (Burlington, Conn.) directing senior Elsbeth Colson (Everett, Mass.) in the stroke seat, ahead of junior Madison Summers (Hudson, N.H.), first year Elaine Nolan (West Bridgewater, Mass.), junior Christine Yu (Plainville, Mass.), sophomores Lily Pennington (Watertown, Mass.) and Rebecca Ramsey (Jefferson, Mass.), junior Nicole Lee (North Reading, Mass.) and sophomore bow Chloe Feuerstein (Winchester, Mass.) placed fourth in the Third Final with a time of 7:44.859. The Sharks were edged out of fourth by Saint Lawrence by just over six-tenths of a second, while finishing ahead of Mount Holyoke College by over six ticks. University of New Hampshire won the final with a mark of 7:34.337. Bates' Second Varsity won the Grand Final race as well with a time of 6:41.057.