WORCESTER, Mass. - The Ithaca College women's rowing team wrapped up its season this Sunday at the National Invitational Rowing Championship (NIRC) in Worcester, Massachusetts. This is one of the most competitive D3 events of the year, where both the NESCAC AQ and final At-Large Qualifications for the NCAA Championship are determined. The morning started out cloudy with the sun coming out midday with some intermittent clouds. A headwind on the course grew throughout racing and became particularly gusty for the afternoon finals.
 
The Bombers fielded entries in the W1v8+, W2v8+, W3v8+ and V4+. The 1^st and 2^nd varsity events each had fields large enough to require three heats, meaning that out of each heat, the top-2 would earn spots in the grand final, the next two to the petite and all remaining crews to the 3^rd level final. The 3v and V4+ events each required two heats, meaning that the top-3 crews would make it to the grand final and all others would race the petite.  
 
First up for the day was the Varsity Four. Cameron Silberman (cox), Christina Cox, Maeve Van Jura. Julia Sweet, and Jamie Friedlander lined up in their heat against Williams, Wesleyan, and UNH. The crew struggled to find their usual synchronized flow and missed out on making the grand final, finishing fourth in 9:33.862, seven seconds behind UNH.
 
The 4+ regrouped for a more stable, unified piece in their afternoon final despite the wild headwind. The petite final was a two-boat dual against familiar rival, Rochester. Ithaca got out in front and never looked back, widening their open water gap all the way through the finish line. Ithaca crossed the line first (7^th place overall) in 10:04.403 with Rochester trailing at 10:28.535.
 
The 3V was faced with the daunting prospect of a seven-boat heat along with, Tufts, Bates, Wellesley, William Smith, Connecticut College, and Hamilton. The Bombers lineup consisted of Sarah Chraibi, Ava Connor, Stella Kartsonas, Emily Murphy, Naomi Bozenski, Brandi Landis, Mya Veracka, and Emmi Chen. While the goal is always to qualify for the highest-level final possible, coxswains must assess the race as it unfolds and make a tough decision of whether to push for qualification or conserve energy for the final. As Tufts, Bates & Wellesley opened margins making their Grand Final slots inevitable, Chraibi made the call for the Bombers to conserve for a solid run at the petite. Ithaca finished the heat in 8:18.422 placing them fifth, behind William Smith, but ahead of Connecticut College and Hamilton at of 8:24.804 and 8:28.380 respectively.
 
Wesleyan, Colby, and Coast Guard rounded out the 3v petite final in the afternoon.  Wesleyan & William Smith walked away with the top slots in the petite in 8:09.525 and 8:19.984 respectively. The Bombers maintained contact with Coast Guard for a decent portion of the race but eventually fell to sixth (12^th overall) in 8:44.753 maintaining a sizeable lead over seveth Connecticut College.
 
The Ithaca 2V faced Williams, Bates, Hamilton, Coast Guard, and Mount Holyoke in their heat. The crew was Kaelyn Morandi(cox), Maisie Sagaas, Lauren Huber, Claire Edwards, Melanie Heim, Jasmina Vahle, Emma Rosenthal, Kate March, and Bryanna Mendoza Arias. Seeding indicated that it would be a tough fight for the Bombers to qualify even for the petite final, but the crew went out hard hoping to stay with the pack.  The race played out with sizable margins developing by the midpoint.  Williams and Bates moved along to the grand final while Hamilton and Coast Guard earned spots in the petite.  The Bombers finished the heat in 5th place with a time of 8:12.116, which relegated them to the third level final along with Mt. Holyoke.
 
Later in the afternoon, that third level final of the 2v started with chaos, partly due to the gusty winds. On the first start, Colby took a false start by not leaving the platform (which is a reasonable choice if their point was unsafe). Unfortunately, on the second start, they swerved directly into the Bomber's lane, causing a clash of blades & another stoppage of the race.  At that point, Colby – whose heat time made them favored to lead this final – was at this point excluded from the final and crews returned to the blocks for a third start.  Once properly underway, the 2v crew rallied for a tight race with Connecticut College the entire length of the course. The crews traded moves off each other, maintaining contact into the sprint.  Conn pulled off the sharper push at the end, finishing first (13^th overall) in time of 8:14.324, with Ithaca right on their heels (14^th overall) in 8:16.680. St. Lawrence, Skidmore & Mt. Holyoke rounded out the field, well behind.
 
The Bombers' final representatives were in the 1V. The lineup was Payton Fisch (cox), Emmeline Robinson, Samantha Gallagher, Annoura Stewart, Alexandra Catlin, Emma Thorne, Kai Lincke, Julia DiCostanzo, and Hope Oliveira. They lined up with Tufts, Trinity, Colby, Coast Guard, and Connecticut College. Once more, the Bombers were seeded fifth in their heat and would have an uphill battle trying to qualify for the petite. While Tufts & Trinity pulled ahead for qualification into the grand final and Colby built a solid margin to earn their spot in the petite, Ithaca gave Coast Guard a run for their money in the fight for the final qualifying spot for the petite. The crews traded moves throughout the piece and maintained contact, but Coast Guard pushed out to take the berth in 7:36.116 with Ithaca right behind at 7:39.770. Ithaca and Conn would return to race each other again in the third final.
 
In their final Ithaca faced Rochester, WPI, Connecticut College, St. Lawrence, Mount Holyoke, and UNH. Having faced Rochester several times throughout the season, the Bombers viewed this as one last chance to execute the race plan cleanly and narrow the margin on the YellowJackets.  Off the start, the battle was on between Ithaca, Rochester and WPI, but as the dual between Ithaca and Rochester heated up, the rest of the field fell back. The Liberty League rivals traded move for move down the whole course, maintaining composure & overlap all the way to the line. Fighting all to the end, Rochester ended up crossing first with a time of 7:36.861 with Ithaca less than two seconds back in 7:38.443. It was a great, well-fought race for both crews. Having been seeded 15^th coming into the race, the Bombers' 14^th place finish placed them ahead of their predicted result.
 
The full day of race results can be viewed here.
 
This race concluded the season for Ithaca women's rowing. The men's squad earned an IRA berth at the Liberty League Championship and will continue to train through the end of May while the women start their recovery and next training cycle with an eye on next fall.