After a strong fall season for Blue crew, winning the Seven Sisters Championships, claiming second at the Snake Regatta and finishing third at the Head of the Charles, the team seeks to continue its excellence in the spring semester. Wellesley College crew opened its spring season on Saturday, March 28 against Washington College on Maryland’s Chester river with first-varsity and second- varsity boats finishing second and third, respectively. More recently, on April 4, the Blue topped William Smith College in another dual meet on the Cayuga- Seneca Canal. Wellesley is currently ranked first in the NEWMAC rowing preseason poll, receiving all seven first-placed votes, and third in the US Rowing Coaches NCAA Division III Preseason Poll for the spring season.
Under Head Coach Tessa Spillane, the team has been preparing and training for the spring season since the conclusion of the fall season. In particular, Blue crew concentrated on developing its young talent.
“Over the winter training season, we worked hard to maintain our fitness levels and fully integrate the varsity and novice teams. After several weeks indoors, a productive spring training week and several great weekends of racing, we have already started to see this work pay off,” Em Reuder ’15 said. “We have a really strong and motivated novice group, and focused on honing the technical aspects of the stroke so that the fitness we built during our indoor training season can be applied as effectively as possible on the water.”
Wellesley crew looks ahead to many exciting events this spring racing season, where the team will compete against other boats simultaneously.
“Right now, we’re focused on winning the NEWMAC competition so that we can automatically qualify for NCAAs. Beyond that, we are going to continue working towards building our fitness and improving our technique so that we can place higher than we have in Blue crew history at the NCAA competition,” Loren Lock ‘15 said.
“Overall, we’re incredibly excited to see the team realize the potential that we have.”
Blue crew will next compete on Saturday, April 11 on Malden Lake against Tufts, Bates and Wesleyan.
The Wellesley golf team began its spring season on Tuesday, March 24 in Florida at the Lexington Oaks Golf Club, finishing third in the two-day spring break invitational against Vassar College and Allegheny College. The team also had their biennial spring break training trip, spending five days on the golf course preparing for the season. This spring, the Blue will look to build on its experiences from the fall season and competition in Florida.
“We had a great time, enjoyed the weather, learned a lot of lessons on the course, dropped 50 strokes off our team score on the second day of competition and grew closer as a team,” Head Coach Sherry Makerney said.
The team began the fall season composed mostly of new players who have since improved on their individual golf games.
“We are building a foundation not just for the spring but years to come. We are a young team, learning how to compete,” Becca Berger ’15 said. “It is also my final season as an undergraduate golfer and I look forward to enjoying playing at Nehoiden with teammates once it opens!”
The record breaking snowfall this winter has affected the golf team’s spring practices as Nehoiden, the Wellesley College golf course, remains inaccessible. The team has had to restructure and adapt its practices, but has since made great progress in its sessions, including strength and conditioning workouts twice a week.
“Our golf swings are built in the off season, so we have used the past six weeks to work on swing mechanics and skill development while limited to the indoors. I have used a lot of video at practice and it’s rewarding to see golf swings improving every week. We also spend time talking about mental skills, rules of golf and improving course management,” Makerney said. “We are hoping to finish in the top three in our Liberty League Championship on April 25 and 26.”
Wellesley golf is looking forward to their packed spring tournament schedule, which includes a Golf Team Benefit Scramble on Saturday, May 2 at Nehoiden. The nine-hole event will feature teams of faculty and golf team members in a scramble format.
The Blue will next compete on Saturday, April 11 at the Vassar Invitational.
Photo Courtesy of Sherry Makerney
Ivy Jiang ’18 is the Sports & Wellness Assistant Editor who is majoring in Economics. When she is not studying, she is probably following the NBA, reading, watching emotional films, eating or leisurely exercising. Feel free to contact her at ijiang@wellesley.edu.