Crew Makes Fourth Straight Year of Finishing in Division III's Top Five

The Wellesley Blue crew finished the 2013 season fifth in the nation after a strong performance in the finals at the NCAA Division III Championships at Eagle Creek Lake outside Indianapolis, Ind. It was the squad's fourth consecutive appearance at the annual event.

Wellesley combined a sixth place finish in the varsity eight race and a fourth place finish in the second varsity eight race to earn 21 team points and a fifth place overall finish. Williams took the team title for the eighth straight year. 

Racing started with qualifying heats on Friday, May 31, and continued through the weekend, dogged by challenging weather and water conditions.

Wellesley had a successful opening day despite severe local weather moving races several hours earlier than scheduled. Wellesley's boats advanced to the grand finals with the Blue placing third overall in both the varsity eight and second varsity races.

Finals day opened with second varsity racing where Wellesley competed in the grand finals. The Blue were third after the 500m mark, but ended the race fourth overall in 7:42.16. Williams won in 7:24.57, followed by Trinity (7:28.03) and Bates (7:30.24).

In the varsity eight race, a slow start put the Blue in sixth in theh early going. Although the crew made up time during its closing sprint, the boat ranked sixth overall in the field with a time of 7:40.61. Williams again took the title (7:20.64), followed by Bates (7:22.87), with William Smith (7:25) in third. 

The varsity eight boat was made up of coxswain Aidan Chambers '13 and rowers Taylor Black '13, Jennifer Lamy '13, Kathryn Goffin '13, Jessica Frey '13, Becca Kimball '14, Loren Lock '15, Ali Pierson '13, Patty Suquilanda '13. The second varsity boat consisted of coxswain Emma Kaufman '15 and rowers Emily Cetlin '15, Ildi Gaal '14, Sierra Luther '16, Solange Adamson '16, Sahar Ibrahim '16, Kelsey Trabucco '16, Katie Burnett '16, and Emma Reuder '15. Rachel Coogan '13, Tess Ruderman '13, and Maggie West '14 also represented the Blue in Indianapolis. 

This is the fourth straight season that the Blue have finished fifth in the nation or higher. The race also marked the final competition for Wellesley crew's class of 2013. Blue seniors Black, Chambers, Coogan, Frey, Goffin, Lamy, Pierson, Ruderman, Valerie Soon, and Suquilanda joined an elite class of Wellesley athletes to make it to the NCAA Championships in each of their four seasons. 

Find out more about Wellesley crew, or this year's scholar-athletes in all sports at Wellesley.