Seahawks Women's Rowing Takes Eighth at NCAA Championships

David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor

Jun 1

SARASOTA, Fla. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's rowing team wrapped up the 2021-22 campaign with an eighth-place finish in the six-year-old program's first-ever appearance in the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Championships. Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla., served as the host site for the two-day championships.

St. Mary's College tallied 21 points to finish eighth in the team standings as the Seahawks placed eighth in both the varsity 8+ and the second varsity 8+.

SMCM Women's Rowing Team at NCAA Championships (5.28.22)

The Seahawks knocked off Washington College, the eight-time defending Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC) champion, for the program's first-ever MARC title and first-ever bid to the NCAA Championship on May 1.

Wellesley College dethroned four-time defending champion, Bates College, by one point for its second team title in program history with the first one coming in 2016. The Blue posted 51 points with second-place finishes in both eights while Bates won the second varsity 8+ and placed third in the varsity 8+.

2022 NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Championship Team Standings.
1. Wellesley College (51)
2. Bates College (50)
3. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (48)
4. Ithaca College (43)
5. Williams (38)
6. Tufts (31)
7. Pacific Lutheran (26)
8. St. Mary's College (21)

How It Happened
Women's Varsity 8+

FRIDAY: The Seahawks placed fourth in the four-team Heat 1 Friday morning with a time of 7:09.906. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) won the heat in 6:41.567 followed by Ithaca College in second (6:41.622) and Tufts University in third (7:00.291).
WPI and Ithaca advanced to Saturday's grand final while Tufts and St. Mary's went to the afternoon's repechage for a second chance at a spot in Saturday's grand final.
In the repechage, St. Mary's came in fourth in 7:10.956. Williams College captured the repechage in 6:48.032 followed by Tufts in second (6:50.504) and Pacific Lutheran University in third (7:03.722). With their Top 2 finish, Williams and Tufts secured a spot in Saturday's grand final while the Seahawks and PLU will battle for seventh and eighth in Saturday's petite final.
SATURDAY: St. Mary's took second in the petite final in 7:20.664 behind Pacific Lutheran, who won the petite final in 7:15.620.

Women's Varsity 8+ Lineup:
Coxswain: Erin Lanham '22 (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard)
Stroke: Haley Roche '25 (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury)
7: Emma McNesby '22 (Churchville, Md./Aberdeen)
6: Emily Frieman '22 (Towson, Md./Roland Park)
5: Nikki Iacona '23 (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)
4: Erin Rhodes '25 (Silver Spring, Md./St. John's College)
3: Elise Kinyanjui '25 (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair)
2: Sydney West '23 (Parkton, Md./Notre Dame Prep)
Bow: Colette Nortman (Annapolis, Md./Key)

Women's Second Varsity 8+

FRIDAY: St. Mary's claimed a fourth-place finish in Friday morning's Heat 2 in 7:34.742. Wellesley College took first in 6:51.975 followed by Williams in second (6:57.007) and WPI in third (7:00.093).
Wellesley and Williams earned berths in Saturday's grand final while the Seahawks and WPI headed to the afternoon's repechage.
St. Mary's garnered a third-place finish in the repechage in 7:32.026, shaving off more than two seconds from its morning run. Tufts won the repechage in 7:06.414 followed by WPI in second (7:11.076) and Pacific Lutheran in fourth (7:44.340). As the top-two finishers, Tufts and WPI gained a spot in Saturday's grand final while the Seahawks and PLU would be in the petite final.
SATURDAY: St. Mary's dominated the Lutes in the petite final, winning it by over 10 seconds. The Seahawks clocked a winning time of 7:42.509 while PLU crossed the finish line in 7:52.907. The NCAA randomly selected St. Mary's for a weigh-in after the race and relegated the Seahawks due to an underweight boat. Therefore, the NCAA awarded the Lutes the first-place points.

Women's Second Varsity 8+ Lineup:
Coxswain: Tiffany Dioko '25 (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis)
Stroke: Mary Oswald '24 (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame)
7: Annika Drilling '23 (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park)
6: Meara Johnson '24 (Salisbury, Md./Salisbury)
5: Sadiyyah Holsey '24 (Abingdon, Md./Patterson Mill)
4: Jocelyn Neubauer '24 (San Antonio, Texas/Magruder [Md.])
3: Tori Wertin '22 (Arnold, Md./Broadneck)
2: Lilly Stein '22 (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales)
Bow: Tess Ovington '24 (Gaithersburg, Md./Northwest)