Photo courtesy of RJB Sports Photography
Rowing surpassed Assumption College and the United States Coast Guard Academy in competition on Lake Quinsigamond on April 20.
BY MERYL PHAIR ‘21
On Saturday, April 20, the Mount Holyoke Rowing Team raced on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, competing against Assumption College and the United States Coast Guard Academy.
Overcoming poor racing conditions caused by rainy weather, the Lyons posted strong performances throughout the competition. In the first race of the day, the Mount Holyoke varsity eight boat overtook both Coast Guard and Assumption with a time of 7:58.5. Coast Guard came in second at 8:00.0 with Assumption following behind at 8:52.8. Racing for the Lyons were coxswain Zoe Zelkowitz ’19, Lainie LaRonde ’20, Hannah LeBlanc ’20, Casey Roepke ’21, Elizabeth Hazen ’20, Simran Kaur ’22, Jocelyn Greer ’22, Xena Ault ’22 and Audrey Shannon ’22.
The second varsity eight boat, comprised of coxswain Genesis Rocha ’20, Sarah Lancaster ’22, Molly Aslin ’21, Halee Mahoney ’20, Kate Dutilly ’21, Sharlow Hitchcock ’19, Amy Wang ’22, Jillian Currier ’22 and Shoshi Daniels ’22, raced against Coast Guard in the next match-up of the day. The Lyons posted a time of 8:59.6, falling to the Bears, who finished with a time of 8:32.0.
Mount Holyoke also had two varsity fours on the water to compete against Assumption. For these races, there were no times taken as well as no margins, but both varsity four boats surpassed their Greyhound opponents. The ‘A’ boat took first place and was comprised of coxswain Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson ’22, Lancaster, Aslin, Hitchcock and Daniels. The ‘B’ boat took second place and featured coxswain Jaia Colognese ’22, Elle Bukosky ’22, Katherine Dailey ’22, Dutilly and Claire Gabel ’22.
The Lyons will return to Lake Quinsigamond next Saturday for the 2019 NEWMAC Championship, which will be hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After NEWMACs, Mount Holyoke Rowing has two more competitions left on their schedule — the New England Rowing Championship on May 5 and the National Invitational Rowing Championship on May 11, both of which will be held at Lake Quinsigamond.