WORCESTER, Mass. - This weekend, the Ithaca College women's rowing team competed in the NIRC (National Invitational Rowing Championship). NIRC boasts one of the toughest competitive fields of the season, attracting top crews from clubs and varsity programs across the northeast, in addition to serving as the Conference Championship for the NESCAC. How fast is the racing at NIRC? There are frequently years where teams with NCAA Championship berths finish the regatta in the B final. Early in the day, a strong, sometimes gusting tailwind whipped up and only got stronger throughout the racing.
 
Open 4+: 2 heats of 5. 3 advance to A final, remainder to B final. Coming off a week where IC raced a V4+ and N4+, the Bombers opted for consistent lineups rather than entering a less polished 3V. Unfortunately, the regatta did not offer a N4+ event, so our first year crew joined their teammates in the O4+. In the calmest wind of the day, Wesleyan and Ithaca's varsity entry pulled ahead into comfortable qualifying positions early, but the Bomber novices were not to be ignored and eventually pulled themselves into the final qualifying spot over Skidmore & Mass Maritime. In the final, both IC crews executed aggressive races in rougher conditions & were proud to clock times consistent with their morning speed, but missed the medal spots. UNH, Wesleyan & Colby finished top 3, followed by IC's V4+, Bates and IC's N4+.
 
2V8+: 3 heats of 6. 2 advance to each of 3 finals (A, B, C). In the heat, the seedings proved true and Bates and Williams pushed out comfortably to A final qualifying slots, with WPI and Ithaca on an equally comfortable trajectory toward the B final over Mt. Holyoke and Clark. For the final, with added load on the oars due to the strong tailwind, IC fought from the back of the pack to a 4^th place finish (10^th overall) behind William Smith, Wellesley and WPI, and ahead of Hamilton and Coast Guard. The race was a fun one to watch, with contact between each crew and the one following at the finish. The crew reported putting together two of their strongest pieces of the season and consisted of Smeena Gill, Emmeline Robinson, Emma Thorne, Julia DiCostanzo, Anna Capodilupo, Claire Edwards, Calla Bobak, Carys Owen, and Hope Oliveira.
 
1v8+: 3 heats of 6 or 7. 2 advance to each of 3 finals (A, B, C). The Bombers had a bit of a scare in the heat of the 1V event when Liberty League rivals William Smith & Skidmore both rocketed off the start to join NCAA defending champion Tufts in the qualifying spots for the first half of the piece. At the thousand meter mark, coxswain Caroline Hoskins prodded her crew into understanding the urgency of the situation, and the Bombers were able to claw back into striking distance, pulling off an aggressive sprint to ultimately earn themselves a 1.5second lead on William Smith & a spot in the A final with Tufts.  Like their teammates, the 1V was given more load to help them find purchase in the tailwind, and were able to execute a more controlled piece in an exciting, tightly packed final. After a full 2k of close contact between all the crews, the Bombers finished in 5^th place behind Tufts, Williams, Wesleyan and Bates, with Trinity close on their heels. How close was the race?  Times were 6:34.6, 6:37.2, 6:37.8, 6:37.9, 6:40.3, and 6:41.6 respectively. Most encouraging of all was the crew's reaction to being part of the dogfight – an immediate shared exclamation of, "That was FUN!" when they pulled up to the return dock. The IC crew on Sunday consisted of Caroline Hoskins, Lily Babcock, Emma Hammel, Maggie Farber, Zoe Paradis Stern, Kai Lincke, Ashley Bailey, Samantha Gallagher and Beth Roberts.
 
Overall, the team was pleased with a day of great execution, great weather and visits from fans (both 2 and 4 legged). This marks the end of the season for some, but the 1V and 2V will continue on through graduation week and to the end of May when they will get to rematch many of these teams at the NCAA Championship.