Williams College Women's Crew
The ECAC National Invitational Regatta was canceled due to high winds on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey, creating dangerous water conditions. The women were unable to compete in the grand finals for any event, and thus no official ECAC results are available. However before the cancelation of the afternoon's grand finals, the women's 1V, 2V, and 3V boats were able to compete in the morning's heats, where each boat took a first place finish.The women's 1V, competing on Saturday afternoon in their quarterfinal heat, took first place by nearly thirty seconds over Smith College. They advanced to semi-final #1, held early Sunday morning, where they finished in 6:42.7, two seconds ahead of the field. Trinity and UNH finished second in a dead heat (6:44.696). Bates and Ithaca competed in semi-final #2 where Ithaca prevailed in 6:45.0, while Bates followed in second place in 6:48.3. Williams posted the fastest semi-final time of the morning, but weather prevented them from racing in the grand final.
The second varsity took an open water victory on Tufts in the first 2V heat of the morning, completing the 2000 meter course in 6:57.0, with Tufts second in 7:07.7. Ithaca and Smith were the top two finishers in heat #2, bumping Trinity to third and a spot in th petite final, while Bates took an open water victory over Holy Cross in heat #3. As the first varsity did, the Williams 2V posted the fastest heat time of all second varsity boats to race.
The 3V raced to a 15 second margin over Trinity, and the fastest third varsity time of the day, finishing first in 7:14.5, with Trinity second in 7:28.5. Ithaca and Wellesley took the top two spots in the second heat.
Due to the cancellation of the grand finals at ECAC's, the New England Rowing Championships will be used to determine the NESCAC titles. Williams, with first place finishes in both the men's and women's varsity races, will take home the 2009 NESCAC Men's and Women's Rowing Championship. This is the fourth consecutive NESCAC title for the Williams women, who have also captured the last three NCAA Rowing titles. The Williams men earn their first NESCAC title since the honor was first given in 2004.
With the NESCAC title, the Williams women earn an automatic team bid to the NCAA Division III Rowing Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held on the Cooper River in Camden, NJ from May 29-31.
NCAA.com will be hosting the Division III Rowing Selection Show on Tuesday, May 12 at 3pm, which will feature the Williams Ephs and their automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, as well as the announcement of the at-large bids to complete the NCAA field. In order to view the show online, please make sure your computer meets the system requirements ahead of time. Instructions are located at: http://www.cstv.com/ot/sl2_faq.html#system.
