Wellesley Crew Opens NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Wellesley College crew team opened racing at the 2014 NCAA Championships at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Blue raced in a pair of heats in the morning, and had a second varsity eight repechage in the afternoon.

The first varsity eight boat opened the day by advancing straight to the grand finals. The Blue finished second overall, keeping pace with top-seeded Bates in the four-boat heat. The Bobcats finished in a time of 6:43.749, followed by Wellesley in 6:45.254. Both boats had open water leads over third place Wesleyan (6:51.523) and fourth-place Puget Sound (7:15.351).

The Blue second varsity eight finished third in their heat, clocking in at 7:14.814. Wellesley was behind Bates (6:55.506) and Williams (7:14.814), with Bates advancing straight to the grand finals.

In this afternoon's repechage, Wellesley placed third overall to earn a spot in Saturday's petite final. Wesleyan grabbed first in 7:02.737, while Williams finished second in 7:06.362. Wellesley clocked in at 7:16.075, while Washington College recorded a 7:41.411.

Wellesley's first varsity eight boat consists of sophomore coxswain Alessandra Zaldivar-Giuffredi, and rowers, sophomore Meg Roberts, senior Becca Kimball, sophomore Charlotte Benishek, first-year Kathryn Barth, junior Emma Reuder, first-year Hannah Barton, senior Ildi Gaal, and sophomore Olivia Thayer.

The Wellesley second varsity eight is made up of first-year coxswain Anna Thomas, and rowers, sophomore Sierra Luther, sophomore Grace Howland, sophomore Sahar Ibrahim, senior Maggie West, first-year Anna Hakes, first-year Olivia Duggan, senior Caeden Brynie, and sophomore Katie Burnett.

Tomorrow's second varsity petite final begins at 10:50am, while the varsity eight grand final begins at 11:20am.