Hannah Thukral ’23
Staff Writer
Rowing
The Mount Holyoke rowing team made their way to Boston for the Head of the Charles Regatta last weekend. The Head of the Charles Regatta is one of the oldest head races in the country and has been running since 1965. The Regatta draws more than 11,000 competitors and thousands of spectators.
The College sent one boat in the Women’s Collegiate Eights. The boat consisted of coxswain Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson ’22, Celeste Keep ’24, Emma Waldron ’24, Simran Kaur ’22, Jocelyn Greer ’23, Liv Romanowsky ’25, Ellie Mohn ’24, Jill Slatch ’25 and Claire Gabel ’22. The final finish time for the Lyons in the 5,000 meter race was 18:14.979 minutes. They outraced New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference rival Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
“[The regatta] is the only time that rowing is a spectator sport, and for most of us it’s the biggest rowing event that we’re ever going to attend, regardless of whether or not we’re competing,” Nagarajan-Swenson said. “[Head of the Charles] is really a coxswain’s race. Coxswains are responsible for steering the boat, strategizing, keeping the boat moving together and executing the race plan,” Nagarajan-Swenson explained. According to Nagarajan-Swenson, coxswains know “the name and location of every bridge and landmark,” “how to take every turn,” “where every buoy is” and “which spots [they] might need to do some counterintuitive maneuvering at, in order to get the best line.”
The team placed 18th out of 40, which means the Lyons automatically won a bid for the next Head of the Charles, since they placed within the top 20 teams.
“I’m proud of the team’s ranking and our overall execution of the race,” Kaur said. “Getting 18 [out] of 40 was the first time we have requalified since 2011. We out-pulled 22 crews and requalified for the first time in a very long time.”
The regatta concluded the fall season of competition for the rowing team.
Volleyball
Mount Holyoke Volleyball traveled to Amherst College and Smith College on Saturday, Oct. 23, to compete against Westfield State University and Bates College in the Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament.
The Lyons started the tournament in a match against Bates hosted by Smith, dropping the match 3-0 with set scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-22.
Gabi Davis ’22 had seven kills in the match, while Brayden Walden ’22 and Marion Abeja ’23 together totaled 23 assists. Mar Simon ’23, Sarah Bishop ’22 and Chelsea Galicia ’22 came up with nine digs each.
Then, the Lyons moved on to their second game, hosted by Amherst College, where they picked up a 3-1 win against Westfield State. The Lyons won the first set, dropped the second and won the third and fourth. The final set scores were 26-24, 19-25, 25-23 and 25-22.
Bishop had a team high of 12 kills and also 12 digs. Galicia collected a team high of 34 digs. Walden and Abeja produced 30 combined assists. McKenna Crosby ’23 and Simon each had two service aces.
Mount Holyoke Volleyball’s competition season ends in a home match against Emerson College on Saturday, Oct. 30.