Athletics News and Press Releases

Finals of ECAC Rowing Championships Cancelled

Northampton, MA: High winds and whitecaps on Sunday caused the cancellation of final and some semi-final races at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) National Invitational Rowing Championships held at Dorchester Park, Whitney Point, New York.

     Heats in the women's varsity eight took place in windy, but rowable, conditions on Saturday evening. The Pioneers drew the most competitive of the four heats and finished fourth behind Bates, Mary Washington and William Smith with just 2.5 seconds separating the four boats. The top three crews in each heat advanced to the A and B semifinals, en route to the grand and petite finals, with the others going to the C and D semi-finals on the way to the third and fourth level finals. Although the Pioneers fourth place time would have won another heat outright and was the 8th fastest time of all the heats, Smith was knocked out contention for the grand and petite finals. In their semi-final race, the crew dominated and won by a few lengths of open water.

     The novice eight entered the regatta seeded 8th and raced to second place behind St. Lawrence which advanced them to the grand final for the first time in a few years. As the winds increased, the second varsity eight took to the water and finished last in their heat but advanced to the petite final. Following their heat, racing was suspended for a few hours and then finally cancelled.