Williams Women's Crew Sets New Course Record

By Liz ZhuWilliams Sports Info
08:56AM / Wednesday, October 27, 2010Print Story | Email Story

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The conditions on the Charles River were perfect on Sunday, Oct. 24, for the premier fall rowing event, the Head of the Charles. The Williams College women demolished the course record, previously set in 2003, by over 22 seconds and rowed away with the title.

The first varsity boat finished in 16:24.2, more than 35 seconds ahead of Ithaca, Bates and Wellesley, perennial NCAA competitors in the spring. Since the top seeded boat, Grand Valley State University, scratched their entry, coxswain Becca Licht, a senior, urged the crew to break the course record at each checkpoint. “When we did get to the finish line and the time was a full twenty seconds faster than the previous course record, I was afraid to say anything about it until we got to shore! It was a really great race.”

Unfortunately, the second varsity boat, despite maintaining a good steered course and rhythm, got caught on a buoy on the Cambridge Boat Club turn, more than two-thirds into the race, and had to stop to get untangled. Despite not being able to show the boat’s true speed, the women of Williams were “poised, together, and really fast through the final meters,” said sophomore Annie Haley. Senior Ellen Stuart added, “The 2V comes out of the Charles with new determination in the spring: we have something to prove.”

The varsity women take a step back and let the novice rowers shine next Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Head of the Fish in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Full Results: http://hocr.org/results/results_static.asp

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Williamstown Housing Trust Agrees to Continue Emergency Mortgage, Rental Programs

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
04:14AM / Tuesday, December 30, 2025

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The board of the town's Affordable Housing Trust at its December meeting voted to extend its mortgage and rental assistance programs and discussed bringing in some consultants early next year before embarking on any new programs.

Chair Daniel Gura informed the board that its agreements with Pittsfield's Hearthway Inc., to administer the Williamstown Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Williamstown Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program was expiring at the end of the year.

Gura sought and obtained a vote of the board to extend the programs, born during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the end of January 2026, at which time the board plans to sign a new long-term agreement.

"In 2024, we distributed $80,000," through the programs known as WERAP and WEMAP, Gura said. "This year, to date, we gave $16,000, and Ihere's $17,000 left. … It's a little interesting we saw a dropoff from 2024 to 2025, although I think there were obvious reasons for that in terms of where we are in the world."

Gura suggested that the board might want to increase the funding to the programs, which benefit income-qualified town residents.

"If you look at the broader economic picture in this country, there's a prospect of more people needing help, not fewer people," Thomas Sheldon said in agreeing with Gura. "I think the need will bump up again."

The board voted to add an additional $13,000 to the amount available to applicants screened by Hearthway with the possibility of raising that funding if a spike in demand is seen.

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