Bates crew shines at New Hampshire Championships
PEMBROKE, N.H. — The Bates rowing team competed in the 2006 New Hampshire Championships Regatta on the Merrimack River on Saturday, an event drawing collegiate and club teams from across New England. In its first race of the fall season, Bates entered seven crews in four different events, and recorded four top-3 finishes.
Racing in the 22-boat Open Women’s Event, the two varsity women’s eights finished third and 12th, completing the three-mile course in 16:26 and 17:07, respectively. The third-place Bates boat was just four seconds shy of the winning time, posted by both Vermont and Holy Cross, and finished ahead of NESCAC rivals Colby, Tufts, and Bowdoin.
The Bates men also entered two crews in the Open Men’s Event. In the 27-boat field, the Bates boats placed sixth and 19th, finishing in 15:23 and 16:28, respectively. The top Bates crew was 2.7 percent off of the winning time, posted by Holy Cross, and like the Bates women, was the top-finishing NESCAC crew in the event.
The Bates novice/first-year crews, in their first collegiate race, stole the show with one gold-medal and two silver-medal performances. The novice men’s eight finished second in the 19-boat Collegiate Novice Men’s Event, posting a time of 15.23.5. The crew was 11.5 seconds behind the winning MIT boat. The novice women entered two crews in the Collegiate Novice Women’s Event, and finished first and second in the 12-boat event. Both of these crews finished almost 20 seconds ahead of the nearest competition.
For complete regatta results, go to http://amoskeagrowing.org/Regatta/2006/results.html.
Next weekend, Bates travels to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta, Oct. 21-22.