No. 1 Blue Crew Takes First Place at Washington College Invitational

CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- The Wellesley College Blue crew swept the board with three first place finishes at the Washington College Invitational on Saturday in Maryland. The Blue took first in the Varsity Eight (V8) Grand Final, 2nd Varsity Eight Grand Final (2V8), and Varsity Four Grand Final in the team's first competition since the Head of the Charles Regatta in October.

The Blue finished first in the overall Points Trophy standings with 60 points. In second was Thomas Jefferson with 51 points, followed by the host Shorewomen with 50 points. Rounding out the scoring was Bryn Mawr (41) taking fourth, St. Mary's (37) fifth, Marietta (30) sixth, Franklin & Marshall (28) seventh, Catholic (26) eighth and Cabrini (21) finishing ninth. 

The Blue, who were ranked No. 1 in the CRCA Division III Preseason Coaches Poll, advanced all three of the team's boats to the afternoon's Grand Finals. The Wellesley V8 finished in third at 6:32.62 in the morning heats to advance to the V8 Grand Final. Wellesley was also victorious in the 2V8 heat, earning two of the top three spots in the morning heats. The Wellesley Second Varsity Eight (2V8) edged the 3V8 in the first heat, finishing first in 6:17.40 and the 3V8 took second in 6:41.45.

After advancing in the morning heats, the Blue took first in both of the afternoon's Grand Finals. In the V8 Grand Final, the Blue V8 posted the fastest time of the day, taking first in 6:22.80. Thomas Jefferson (6:43.37) was the runner-up, followed by host Washington College (7:03.95) in third. The Blue went on to win the 2nd Varsity Eight Grand Final, with the 2V8 finishing first in 6:51.30, followed by the 3V8 in second (7:10.01). Washington College was third (7:19.72), Thomas Jefferson fourth (7:47.94), and St Mary's 'A' (8:11.97) in fifth.

Wellesley finished the day with a first place finish in the Varsity Four Grand Final, beating out Catholic (8:36.82) by over a minute with a time of 7:20.60

Next up, Wellesley will compete at the Charles River in Boston against Williams, Simmons, and MIT Lightweights on Saturday, April 2.

Wellesley Lineups (3/26/22):

V8 ('Wells A'): C - Isabella Santos; 8 -Anneka Hallstrom ; 7 - Katie Ball; 6 - Catie Moeser; 5 - Kaitlyn Severin; 4 - Olivia Gorman; 3 - Anya Hanitchak; 2 - Emma Anghel; 1- Kaylee Liu

2V8 ('Wells B'): C - Colette Kennedy; 8 - Adeline Van Buskirk; 7 - Zipporah Cohen; 6 - Anastasia Brooks; 5 -Gaya Krishna ; 4 - Eleanor Antezana; 3 - Cricket Liebermann; 2 - Cora Barrett; 1 - Bryn Flanigan

3V8 ('Wells C'): C - Rachel Shrives; 8 - Autumn Smith; 7 - Melissa Daniels; 6 - Meredith Swanson; 5 - Katherine Welsh; 4 - Abby Martinage; 3 - Emma Dean; 2 - Amelia Lee; 1 - Claire Johnson

V4: C - Naomi Weisner; 4 - Rosemarie Goldstein; 3 - Karina Zimmerman; 2 -Grace Kessler; 1 - Britany Hansten