OCCOQUAN, Va. – The Owls rowers returned to action Sunday for the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference Championships, with Bryn Mawr showcasing just how much all their hard work this semester has paid off. The Owls' varsity eight would end up taking fourth place in the championship while Bryn Mawr's varsity four finished in third place on the day.
The action got started this morning with the preliminary heats of the varsity eight event. Bryn Mawr's eight was coxed by Abigail Harris and consisted of Sarah Stephens in the stroke seat, Tova Just, Maura Clancy, Coco Vallon, Madelyn Hicks, Eleanor Wheeler, Emily Rho, and Sara Radmall. Bryn Mawr was able to put together a strong performance in their heat, crossing the line in a time of 7:10.8 to finish second in the prelim and qualify their way into the afternoon's Grand Final.
Bryn Mawr's varsity four got into action about an hour later, with the boat consisting of Sophia Hofmann as the coxswain and August Nagler as stroke, Mary Jane Schmidt, Spencer Smith, and Lily Goltz. Once again the Owls put on a good showing, coming across the line in a time of 8:35.3 to finish second in their heat and again easily qualify for the Grand Final.
In the afternoon, the schedule got reversed, with the Owls' four taking to the water first. The team subbed in Lindsay Damon for Mary Jane Schmidt for the Grand Final, as Schmidt had to jump up to the varsity eight. Going up against some of the strongest competition from around the region, Bryn Mawr showcased some impressive talent by taking third place in the packed Grand Final. The Owls put up a time of 8:27.4 in the final to take that third-place finish, beating out boats from Franklin & Marshall, Stockton, and Catholic along the way.
Bryn Mawr's varsity eight closed things out in the Grand Final, the last event of this year's MARC Championships. The Owls' lineup remained the same outside of the team subbing in Schmidt for Hicks in the afternoon final. Again racing against a packed field, Bryn Mawr earned an impressive fourth-place finish with a time of 7:16.7. That effort was just over two seconds outside of another third-place finish for Bryn Mawr, but was also still easily good enough to beat out the eights from F&M and Stockton.
Bryn Mawr's Anne Meyer generously contributed the following details from the site of today's action:
"The team gave their all today and all our work this semester paid off. The day started out well with flat water and good weather, something we haven't had so far this season. The race course was beautiful, probably the most beautiful we've seen so far. We knew no matter what the outcome we would have a good day of rowing. With two solid boats, flat water, and a beautiful course we were looking at a good day.
In the morning we were ready to push ourselves and show the other teams how hard we've been working; we were aiming to have both boats medal. After the morning qualifying heats both boats were in good standing, and we knew we would had a chance at third for both boats. There was a brief thunderstorm in the afternoon however. Races were postponed for almost an hour while we waited for the lightning to pass. We were able to stay more or less dry during the rain and were ready to race right after.
The four, a lineup change from our original that we planned to race due to injury, had their final first. They stayed strong throughout the race and with a sprint at the end managed to secure third place. The boat was almost all novice rowers and they have worked so hard this year and achieved so much. Lily (Goltz), who was in the boat, said, "We had a really good row. We rowed harder than we have before and it felt good." The whole team was so proud of them for getting third in our championship.
The eight raced their final after the storm delays and were also aiming for third. They were so close to the other boat, but unfortunately lost by only a few seconds. The varsity had also gone through quite a few lineup changes recently (including switching out a rower midday due to an injury acting up), and even though they didn't medal, they had a great race.
There were also a few individual acknowledgements handed out. Sophia, Tova, and Abby all received one.
Overall it was a good day of racing, even if it was a hard one. The team was exhausted but happy at the end of the day, ready to go back home and rest up.
Also a special mention is due to our seniors, Rania and Maura, for whom this was their last regatta at Bryn Mawr. It's been a crazy four years in the crew team and this was only their second season of racing, but they made sure it was a good one."
As Meyer mentioned, a special acknowledgement goes out to Rania Hammami and Maura Clancy, Bryn Mawr's two seniors who suffered the loss of over one-and-a-half seasons of competition due to the COVID pandemic. The Owls thank them for their hard work and dedication to the program and are grateful for the leadership and effort they have put in along the way.
Bryn Mawr will now cap off their season in a couple of weeks, as they are set to compete at the historic Dad Vail Regatta on Sunday, May 14.
*A special thank-you goes out to Anne Meyer for her dedicated and thorough reporting on today's (and all of this season's) action from the event.*
