Williams Women's Crew Sets New Course Record
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/
