This past weekend, the Colgate women’s rowing team participated in the 35th Annual Murphy Cup Regatta hosted by Temple University. This was their first event since November, when they competed in the Philadelphia Frostbite and Bill Braxton Memorial regattas. Their strong showing in earlier competitions carried over into this past weekend. Spring is the primary season for college rowing, and the majority of the schedule is composed of dual races. These 2,000-meter races take place between two, or sometimes three schools. The Patriot League women’s rowing teams are a part of the Eastern Colleges Athletic Conference/Metro League. NCAA women’s rowing is divided up into three divisions. They compete at the NCAA rowing championships in a varsity eight, a second varsity eight and a varsity four team. In addition, most teams also field one or more novice eights for rowers who have never competed at the collegiate level. Overall, championship points are awarded based on the performance of those boats. 

During the Murphy Cup competition, the novice four shined for the Colgate women’s rowing team. Evidently, the off-season training during the winter months helped the team prevail. From stroke seat to bow, the novice four raider boat consisted of first-years Claudia Tarrant, Mary Hurtgen, Hayley McGloon and Taylor Wright, with first-year Miranda Tompkins as coxswain. The novice boats test the rower’s ability to compete under pressure and these four novices handled their nerves beautifully. In heat one, event 15, the novice four finished in first place with a time of 8:15.13 and moved on to the finals, where they placed second overall with a time of 7:47.28. Placing first in heat one was an amazing accomplishment for the Raiders. 

“As a team we have been working really hard throughout the winter and over spring break so it was really great to finally get to compete for the first time this spring. We got to see how we stack up with other teams, which as a novice was both exciting and nerve-wracking. Overall I am excited about our results, but am also ready to get back to work this week in hopes of showing even better results in upcoming races,” Tarrant said.

The novice eight also excelled on Saturday. The novice eight lineup, from stroke seat to bow seat, consisted of Tarrant, Wright, McGloon, first-year Molly Frauenheim, first-year Carly Leifken, junior Ellen Hutchinson, first-year Chelsea Rogers and first-year Lucy Bonin, with Tompkins as coxswain. In the second heat, the novice eight finished in second place with a time of 7:35.09, and later finished fourth in the finals with a time of 7:04.07. In heat six, the novice eight finished fourth with a time of 7:06.50.

“I’m extremely proud of the way the first-years performed this weekend and am excited to see them develop. Overall the team performed exceptionally well and improved their times from previous years,”  senior Georgia Butcher said.    

Up next, the team will travel west to Worcester, Massachusetts on April 1 to compete in a meet hosted by Holy Cross, where they hope to pull out another strong performance.