WORCESTER -- In the final regatta before NCAA selections are announced early next week, WPI women's rowing saw its varsity eight win its heat and advance to the grand final while two other boats competed in the final of the National Invitational Rowing Championship held Friday on Lake Quinsigamond.
Conditions were not as ideal in the morning as they were in the afternoon, but water didn't seem to bother the third-seeded Engineers as they won heat three in a time of 7:14.495 to best Trinity (7:15.799), fourth-seeded Ithaca (7:17.565), Hamilton (7:29.001), Colby (7:32.449) and Mount Holyoke (7:49.385). WPI produced a better time of 6:47.801 in the grand final but unfortunately placed sixth behind champion Wellesley (6:39.093), Williams (6:41.017), Tufts (6:42.123), Trinity (6:46.307) and Bates (6:46.467).
The second varsity eight easily qualified for its petite final with a third-place time of 7:26.526 in its heat, placing behind Wellesley (7:15.462) and Williams (7:19.908) but ahead of Clark (7:43.244) and RIT (8:06.119). In the afternoon, it was the NEWMAC foe Cougars who edged the Crimson and Gray by half a second (6:56.105 to 6:56.637). Trinity (7:00.409), Smith (7:00.781) and Ithaca (7:00.792) were separated by less than fourth tenths of second for 3-4-5, with Colby (7:44.415) sixth.
The third varsity eight competed for the final time in the 2022-23 season and placed fifth in the morning heat with a time of 7:53.024 before coming back and finishing fourth in the petite final with a time of 7:19.973.
WPI's will learn in the next few days if it is indeed selected to the NCAA Championships to be held on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey from Friday, May 26th and Saturday, May 29th. Participants will be unveiled Tuesday during a 5pm Selection Show on NCAA.com.
Varsity Eight
Logan Rinaldi (Rumford, RI) - coxswain
Maren Cork (Seattle, WA)
Megan Tupaj (Amherst, NH)
Maggie Kirwan (Wolfeboro, NH)
Lilly Earley (Candia, NH)
Caitlin Kean (Shrewsbury, MA)
Alexa Freglette (Staten Island, NY)
Jules Prisco (Pelham, NY)
Kathryn Woodland (Boxford, MA)
Second Varsity Eight
Emily Howard (Riverside, RI) - coxswain
Caroline Jaeger (Fort Montgomery, NY)
Samantha Arroyas (Uxbridge, MA)
Nicole Miller (Hanover, MA)
Madison Gass (Barrington, NH)
Abigail Poole (Albany, NY)
Isabel Nearing (Cochecton, NY)
Sofia Eckerson (Derry, NH)
Sunny Kang (Brookline, MA)
Third Varsity Eight
Jaya Mills (Wayland, MA) - coxswain
Malyssa Deranian (Windham, NH)
Mara DeCesare (East Greenwich, RI)
Skyler Dooley (Madison, CT)
Eleanor Brown (Vassalboro, ME)
Calista Carrignan (West Haven, CT)
Leah Johnson (Bridgewater, MA)
Ryan Dillon (Rutland, MA)
Ilyssa Delizo (New City, NY)