The Massachusetts women’s rowing team headed east on Saturday to Worcester, Mass. for the Boston College/Holy Cross/UConn invite on Lake Quinsigamond. High humidity and an overcast morning painted the racecourse. Wind gusts were around eight miles per hour heading northeast, making for fair conditions. It was a busy morning and afternoon on the lake from all the different races that were taking place. The Minutewomen were some of the first rowers on the course, with racing starting around 8 a.m. and ending around 9 a.m..
Every boat except the varsity eight faced slight lineup changes, as the athletes only had four days to prepare after the Knecht Cup concluded.
“We were really happy with how all crews performed with all things considered,” head coach Eric Carcich said. “We’ve built this team to withstand moments like this with the team depth that we now have.”
The varsity eight continues to be a force on the water, placing first in its race on Saturday. Led by stroke seat Olivia Ollerenshaw and coxswain Amanda Scally, the crew competed against the five other programs across the racecourse. UMass was in lane four and came in with a time of 6:29.5. MIT came in just three seconds short behind the Minutewomen at 6:32.0.
“The varsity [eight] breaking 6:30 was the story of the day,” Carcich said. “It’s a really good threshold to break.”
The second varsity four took on Sacred Heart’s second and third varsity fours, UConn, Holy Cross and Boston College. Coxed by New Hampshire native Meghan O’Hern, UMass placed first in that race on Saturday as well, coming in with a 7:35.6 time.
“We knew we [would] see five teams that we [had] already seen last week,” Carcich said. “We knew that they would be coming out [just] as hard.”
The second varsity eight took on all six crews and was in lane four. Stroke seat Maeva Ginsberg-Klemmt set the pace and her crew came in second place, just under four seconds behind Boston College at 6:53.0. The Minutewomen held off fellow regional rival UConn by exactly five seconds.
The varsity four took on all the other programs present on Saturday: UConn, Holy Cross, Boston College, Sacred Heart and MIT. UMass finished in third place in lane four, coming in behind Boston College and UConn at 7:33.9. Sarah LaVigna coxed her boat to fend off Sacred Heart by 10 seconds.
The Minutewomen’s third varsity eight and fourth varsity eight were the first on the course on Saturday morning. Those boats competed against Holy Cross, Boston College’s third and fourth varsity eights and UConn. UMass was in lanes four and five. The third varsity was coxed by sophomore Mia Bierowski and the fourth varsity by freshman Ava Kelly.
“We talked about this race as being the perfect preparation for the [Mid-American Conference] Championships,” Carcich said. “Because at the MAC Championships, it’s one and done…you have to get it right, [you get] one shot.”
The Minutewomen return to Lake Quinsigamond in two weeks on May 3 for the women’s Eastern Sprints. This marks the last regatta before the Mid-American Conference Championships and other possible postseason racing. Including UMass, 17 crews will attend the end-of-season event. The Eastern Sprints will be livestreamed on the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s website with the start time yet to be determined.
Olivia Thibodeaux can be reached at [email protected].
