Blue Crew’s Second Varsity, Novice Eight Win Grand Finals at NIRC

WORCESTER, Mass. – Wellesley College crew captured titles in the Women's Second Varsity Eight and Novice Eight events on Sunday at the 2016 National Invitational Rowing Championship on Lake Quinsigamond.

All four Wellesley eights advanced to Grand Finals, with the Varsity Eight taking fifth and the Third Varsity Eight finishing fourth. In the women's four, Wellesley was fifth (8:51.234) in the Grand Final.

The Wellesley Varsity Eight advanced to the V8 Grand Final with a second place time of 7:33.927 in their opening heat. Wellesley trailed only first place Williams (7:26.618). Williams went on to take the Grand Final with a time of 7:19.183. The Ephs were followed by Bates (7:21.173), Wesleyan (7:24.624) and Ithaca (7:29.954). The Wellesley V8 rounded out the top-five with a time of 7:30.815.

The Second Varsity Eight swept through the day. The 2V8 opened with a time of 7:45.918 in their first heat, outpacing second place UNH by nearly ten seconds. In the 2V8 Grand Final, the Blue again separated from the field, racing to a time of 7:18.559 to finish ahead of Bates (7:23.140) and third place Williams (7:29.580). 

The Blue's Third Varsity Eight advanced to the 3V8 Grand Final with a second place performance in their opening heat, racing to a time of 8:29.678. The Blue 3V8 took fourth in the Grand Final with a time of 7:36.428. The Novice Eight took the opening heat with a time of 8:14.945 before finishing just ahead of Ithaca (7:29.726) with a time of 7:26.451 in the Novice Eight Grand Final.

Wellesley will head to Gold River, California later this month, Friday, May 27, for the NCAA Division III Rowing Championships. Blue Crew will making the program's seventh consecutive trip to the national championships.