After finishing second overall in the Atlantic 10 Championships two weekends ago, the Massachusetts crew team competed against Amherst and Vermont in a doubleheader regatta on the Connecticut River over the weekend.
The Minutewomen faced off against Amherst on Saturday morning. The Lord Jeffs looked to impress in their bout against their cross-town rivals, entering one boat in the Varsity 4 races.
UMass defeated Amherst and finished in first place. All through the course of the morning, the two schools held multiple head-to-head races against each other.
Sunday, however, proved to be much more of a challenge against a strong Vermont crew.
The Lady Catamounts displayed their young team on the Connecticut River, that edged out the Minutemen by 1.6 seconds on Sunday morning. Vermont (6:42.20) narrowly escaped the Minutewomen (6:43.80) by a little over a second.
Vermont fell victim to a strong surge by UMass’ Novice 8 boat added a high note to the morning. They defeated the Catamounts by 0.8 seconds, with an overall time of 7:08.10.
This weekend, the Minutewomen travel to Hanover, New Hampshire, for the upcoming Double Duel Regatta, where UMass will face Dartmouth, Buffalo and Cornell.
Next for the Minutewomen are two more meets in the month of May. The first is the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia followed by the U.S. Rowing Collegiate Championships in Mercer, New Jersey.
David Martin can be reached at [email protected].