BOSTON, Mass. -- The Simmons University crew team opened its season by competing at the Community Rowing, Inc. Fall Classic Regatta this morning on the Charles River.

The Sharks placed sixth in the Women's Open Eight with a time of 21:41.6 with sophomore Samantha Kelsey (Salt Lake City, Utah) sitting in the stroke seat ahead of junior Peizhu Pam Qian (Beijing, China/Developing Virtue Secondary Girls School (Calif.)) in the seventh seat followed by seniors Kellie Cann (Needham, Mass.), Christine Yu (Plainville, Mass.) and Eleanor Pullan (Northampton, Mass.), while junior Lily Pennington (Watertown, Mass.) rowed from the third seat ahead of senior Nicole Lee (North Reading, Mass.) and junior bow Chloe Feuerstein (Winchester, Mass.) with junior Ally Fecteau (Burlington, Conn.) sitting in the coxswain seat. 

A crew from CRI won the race with a mark of 19:12.0

Simmons also placed third in the Women's Open Four with senior Melissa Morton (Somers, Conn.) directing the shell from the coxswain perch with first year Maggie O'Byrne (Boston, Mass.) pulling from the bow seat in combination with sophomore Steffi Gaehde (Brookline, Mass.) and junior Sabrina Belozerova (Newton, Mass.) to compile a time of 22:13.5. CRI's four won the race with a time of 20:29.0.

The Sharks return to the water on Sunday, September 30 when they compete in the Textile River Regatta on the Merrimack River in Lowell, Mass.