Varsity 8 Beats URI and Jacksonville to Cap Off NCAA Championship for Rowing

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – The Massachusetts rowing team capped off its seventh all-time NCAA Championship appearance on a strong note Sunday, as the Varsity 8 defeated both Rhode Island and Jacksonville to finish second in its D final and 20th in the nation. The Minutewomen's Varsity 4 and Second Varsity 8 also enjoyed strong showings in their final races of a stellar season.

The Varsity 8 finished in 6:17.530, nearly two seconds ahead of Rhode Island (6:19.2314) and more than six seconds ahead of Jacksonville (6:23.672).

"The amount of effort we've been putting in has really paid off," said freshman Grace Turnbull, two seat of the Varsity 8. "You could watch all the smiles on the girls' faces who crossed the line. We didn't have the best race two days ago, but really came back strong today. We had a good start and good finish. All the effort really paid off."

One exciting aspect about the Varsity 8 performance is they're all underclassmen.

"All year long, they've created this identity of being one unit and leaning into one another," said head coach Eric Carcich. "It's been really fun to watch. I've got four freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors in that boat, so they had to learn a lot over the season, and they did a really good job internalizing some opportunities that they figured out early in the season and then capitalized on them."

UMass' Varsity 8 had a strong start and wouldn't back down in beating the Atlantic 10 and MAAC Champions.

"I knew that was going to be a barn burner between Jacksonville, URI and UMass," said Carcich. "Really, really proud of this group. They got out early, did a really good job in the middle thousand and then closed. What a great way to end it."

The Varsity 4 started the day with a time of 7:24.941, good for fourth in the D final and 22nd in the nation.

The Second Varsity 8 had the same finish not long after, posting a time of 6:34.734, which was just over a second behind Jacksonville in third (6:33.204) and less than four seconds behind Rhode Island in second (6:30.800).

The weekend was the final regatta of an impressive season that saw the Minutewomen capture the first-ever MAC Championship, advancing to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2017.

"It's UMass' seventh time here at the NCAAs, but our first time here for this group and in my time at UMass," said Carcich. "We had to learn a lot in our first couple races, take our lumps a little bit and work our way to today where we could put our best stuff together.

"The Varsity 8 landed on the docks and the first thing the crew said was C level final next year," Carcich continued. "That's who they are. They're going to enjoy this moment, but they're always looking at what's in front of them and what crews can they pluck off next. All 16 of our varsity and JV members are coming back next year. Really good class coming in this fall and some transfers coming in this summer. I'm going to enjoy this and take a little time right now, but really excited about where we're headed."

UMass Boat Lineups
Varsity 8
Amanda Scally (c)
Olivia Ollerenshaw
Sarah Happs
Antonia Gigacher
Sonya Mazrimas
Erin Smith
Mia Booth
Grace Turnbull
Sotiria Michailidi

Second Varsity 8
AJ Prahl (c)
Maeva GK
Hannah Glover
Louise Roper
Maddie Cockburn
Ruby Hodges
Mia Lowes
Bella Ross
Felicity Pye

Varsity 4
Meghan O'Hern (c)
Ana Kolesnikova
Gretta Anderson
Teagan Blue
Lauren Carpenter

-- UMassAthletics.com --

Scoreboard

Varsity 8 Beats URI and Jacksonville to Cap Off NCAA Championship for Rowing

Players Mentioned

Gretta Anderson

Teagan Blue

Mia Booth

Lauren Carpenter

Maddie Cockburn

Antonia Gigacher

Hannah Glover

Sarah Happs

Ruby Hodges

Mia Lowes

Sonya Mazrimas

Sotiria Michailidi

Meghan O'Hern

Olivia Ollerenshaw

AJ Prahl

Felicity Pye

Louise Roper

Bella Ross

Amanda Scally

Erin Smith

Grace Turnbull

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics