WORCESTER, Mass. – This past weekend (May 12), the Ithaca College women’s rowing team was back in action when they traveled to Worcester, Mass. for the National Invitational Rowing Championship (NIRC) Regatta. Annually, this is one of the toughest competitions on the Bomber schedule. NIRC serves as a last attempt for many teams across the northeast to secure a berth to compete at the NCAA Championships, and with several automatic qualifier spots previously determined by conference championships, teams will pull out all the stops to prove they deserve an at-large slot.
With 18 entries in the 2V event and 19 in the 1V, even the heats at NIRC are fierce. The top-2 finishers in each heat advance to the grand final (1st-6th place), the next 2 to the petite final (7th-12th place) and so on.
In the 1V, the lineup of Caroline Hoskins, Taylor Volmrich, Lily Babcock, Laura Trainor, Maggie Farber, Erin Trojan, Kai Lincke, Samantha Gallagher, and Emma Hammel got off to a solid start, holding a close 2nd position behind Wesleyan for the first half of the heat. With tight margins between the top-4 crews at the 1K, Smith found a new gear and by the final strokes had pushed past both the Bombers and the Cardinal crews, relegating IC to the petite final. In the afternoon petite, IC was determined to control the race & responded well to the numerous calls by Hoskins to push off the competition. In the end, Bates managed to sprint to the line first, but the Bombers held off the rest of the field for the 8th place finish overall.
The 2V, adjusting to a last-minute lineup change of Nicole De La Mota, Emma Anderson, Chloe Croft, Anna Capodilupo, Emmeline Robinson, Zoe Paradis Stern, Melanie Belmont, Hope Oliveira and Julia DiCostanzo, also had a tough time in the heat finding their most powerful rhythm. Trinity & Wesleyan advanced to the grands, while the Bombers followed Coast Guard to advance to the petite final by a comfortable margin. Like their teammates, the 2V returned for the petite final with a goal of adding spice to their smooth swing and battled hard against a tight field. Bates walked away with the race, but Smith, Coast Guard and Ithaca would follow close behind, all in contact with one another.
The Novice 8+ Bombers crew of Haley Beckford, Juniper Gattone, Joanna Morales, Carys Owen, Winifred Kanayo-Ezenwata, Emily Murphy, Emmi Chen, Sarah Chraibi, and Payton Fisch faced a smaller field and raced a final-only against Tufts, Coast Guard & Trinity. Novice entries must be composed entirely of walk-on rowers in their first year of training or recruited freshmen. Ithaca’s all-walk-on lineup showed just how much they’ve developed over the year, and put together a smooth, smart piece to place second behind Tufts.
Complete results can be viewed HERE.
As the 2024 Liberty League Champions and Automatic Qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, the Bombers will be training hard to close the gaps on some of the top NIRC competitors in the coming weeks. Selection of the remaining competitors will be finalized in the coming days and announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Tuesday, May 14 at 4:30 p.m.
Source: Competition was Strong for Women’s Rowing at the NIRC Regatta – Ithaca College Athletics
