WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The Bates rowing team defeated Williams by one point to win the 2017 NCAA Championship in dramatic fashion Saturday morning on Mercer Lake.
The Bobcat second varsity eight won its fourth consecutive gold medal, earning Bates 12 points. Meanwhile the first varsity eight came in second to Williams, earning the Bobcats 27 points and giving them 39 overall. The Ephs earned 30 points for their first place finish in the first varsity eight race but only tallied eight points for their third place finish in the second varsity eight race, giving them 38 overall.
Bates checks in with a championship!
— NCAA (@NCAA) May 27, 2017
Bobcats best Williams by a point to win DIII Rowing title. #NCAARow pic.twitter.com/nCLZZPRrlt
The second varsity eight grand final got underway at 11:12 a.m. with the Bobcats taking on Wellesley, Williams and Ithaca.
Bates led wire-to-wire, although the Blue kept things very close for the first 1,000 meters. The Bobcats led by less than a second halfway through the race before opening up a two-second lead at the 1,500-meter mark.
They raced to the finish in a gold medal winning time of 6:48.332. Wellesley came in second with a time of 6:51.502 and Williams came in third, well behind the top two crews with a time of 6:57.632.
Just one point separated Bates from second-place Williams.
The Ephs took home the first varsity eight gold medal with a time of 6:35.379 and the Bobcats rowed to the finish in 6:37.652. Wellesley came in third with a time of 6:38.842. Ithaca, RIT and Wesleyan finished fourth through sixth respectively.
"We're watching, we're watching, Wellesley puts up this fight in the last 500 that almost gets them, they put up an even bigger fight," senior captain and second varsity eight coxswain Abigail Bierman said. "My bow seat Alex Salazar turns around and is like, 'I can't watch any more!' They finish and we whip our heads around to the coaching staff, and ask 'Did we win?' and they nodded, 'We did!"
Bierman won her third consecutive gold medal as the coxswain for the second varsity eight while senior Katherine Traquina won her second silver medal as the coxswain for the first varsity eight. Both coxswains were also members of the 2015 national championship team.
Senior captain first varsity eight stroke Molly Pritz wraps up a remarkable career at Bates that saw her win a gold medal in the second varsity eight boat as a first-year, another gold medal and a national championship as a sophomore, a third gold medal as a junior and a second national championship as a senior.
The seniors with the national championship trophy!! #d3row #mesports pic.twitter.com/PmAMmWpyhm
— BatesSports (@BatesSports) May 27, 2017
"This is so much more than a victory for those of us who got to be on the water today," Pritz said. "This is for everyone. I was happiest to see my first coxswain at Bates [Molly Huffaker] who was here. This is the second [team] national championship for the school and we own both of them. So that's awesome."
Seniors Julia Mason and Jessica Vocaturo wrapped up their careers in style on Saturday as well. Mason takes home a third gold medal and a second national title.
This marks the 11th consecutive year Bates women's rowing has participated in the NCAA championships. They have finished first twice (2015 and 2017), second six times, third twice and fifth once.
Bates lineups
WV8: Laura Rand (bow), Emma Wheeler, Grace Murnaghan, Olivia Stockly, Hannah Fitts, Lena Rintell, Rosemary Kyne, Molly Pritz (stroke); Katherine Traquina (cox).
W2V8: Alex Salazar (bow), Claudia Glickman, Sophia Merelas, Cara Starnbach, Phoebe Long, Jessica Vocaturo, Julia Mason, Grace Jurkovich (stroke); Abigail Bierman (cox).
