It was a good fall of racing for the WPI Crews. A very young men's squad turned in several strong performances earning medals at the Textile and New Hampshire regattas, and finishing a strong 8th in the Collegiate Eight event at the Head of the Charles. This was good enough to earn an automatic bid for next year's regatta. The varsity women earned medals at the Textile, finished 6th at the New Hampshire Championships, and were extremely competitive at the Head of the Charles.

The women's crew spent the fall focusing on fitness and rowing technique. Coach Jason Steele hired a strength coach to work with his team, and spent a lot of time in small boats, instead of the eight. Despite this long-range approach that will certainly pay off this spring, the women still managed to turn in strong performances at the various head races (see results for details). They had a strong row at the Head of the Charles finishing right in the middle of their main DIII rivals. New Mac Champion Smith was only 6 seconds ahead while rivals such as Wesleyan, Vassar, Wellesley, and many others finished behind them. This result is even more impressive because they were missing several key athletes who were away at projects. As usual, the WPI women will be among the top DIII schools this spring, and with some hard work this winter and spring, hope to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships.

The Men had an excellent fall. They earned a bronze medal at the Textile in the Open eight and a silver medal at the New Hampshire Championships showing real grit in difficult conditions. The Textile was cold and rainy and a strong headwind and choppy water made the rowing particularly difficult at the New Hampshire's. Stern pair, Connor McGrath and Scott Gary, both sophomores, did a great job laying down a strong rhythm in both races and maintaining their length, especially in the last mile of the New Hampshire's.

The varsity eight's most exciting race was the Head of the Charles. By this point, we knew that we had some speed, considerably more than the UMass crew starting in front of us. We also knew that we had a good chance of catching the Cross boat that was starting two places in front of us. At the Charles, the best place to pass is in the first mile before the river starts to narrow and wind, so we decided to push hard at the beginning of the race in an attempt to get through these two boats and get some clean water in the turns. Things started out as we planned, and the boat shot through UMass. Cross was a bit tougher to catch, and we only came up on them at the long sweeping turn before the Weeks Footbridge. Unfortunately, we got stuck on the outside of the turn, so Cross actually pulled away again for a bit. Both boats were passing other crews as well, which made coxswain Amanda Gagne's job of steering the boat tough. Finally, we caught Cross at The Elliot Street Bridge just as they were passing Coast Guard. Only two crews can fit through the arch, so Amanda made a difficult, but correct decision. She powered the crew down, waiting for the two crews to clear the bridge. Then, with the arch empty, she brought the crew back up to full speed and slid to the inside of the final turn passing both Cross and Guard and sprinting for the finish. You couldn't ask for a more exciting race. We were only 3 seconds out of 6th place and 12 out of 5th (the last medal position). The medal was probably a bit out of reach, but I am certain we would have finished 6th without the "Elliot Street Incident". Still, that is the Charles and earning the automatic entry is huge since it means that we will start at least 8th next year, and hopefully have clean rowing for the entire race.

Unfortunately, that was our last race. A Nor'easter blew in next weekend and forced us to cancel the novice race that we usually hold on the last weekend of October. The varsity also did not get to scrimmage Coast Guard as a result of the bad weather. The novices had raced at the New Hampshire Championships where they finished 4th and 8th of 25 crews. They seem like a good group, and a couple of them pulled top 10 times on the fall 2K.

The spring could be really exciting, but as we all know, a lot depends on how hard the athletes work this winter. I am particularly excited because the group is so young. The boat that races the Charles next year should have many of the same people in it that rowed this year, only a year older, fitter and wiser.

See you in the spring.

Larry Noble