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Women from several communities lined up next to each other at the starting lines and had outstanding performances at rowing meets across the country last weekend to help their teams advance to next weekend's NCAA national championships, which will be held in Gold River, Calif.
Perhaps the biggest news came out of Virginia, where Molly Frear of Wilton and Emily Pik of Darien helped the Cavaliers earn a shot to repeat as national champions. Frear was the coxswain for UVA's Second Varsity Eight, which won at the Oak Ridge Invitational. Pik, a freshman who rowed for Liz Trond at the Connecticut Boat Club, won the school's Thomas Temple Allan Rookie of the Year Award. She was on the Third Varsity Eight that won the Grand Final last weekend at the Oak Ridge Invitational
Betsy and Mary Nilan, also former rowers for Trond, rowed on boats that medaled at Oak Ridge, too.
The team that will challenge UVA for the national championship next week is Princeton. Greenwich's Catherine Parkhurst, a senior, freshman Emi Alexander from New Canaan, and freshman Kelsey Reelick, a former rower for Trond, are on the Princeton roster. Reelick rowed the Varsity 8 that won the Grand Final in last weekend's Eastern Association of Women's Rowing College championships.
Harvard finished fifth in the first varsity eight in that same race, and the Crimson's boat included Wilton's Celia Kohl, a sophomore.
Other women from area towns who competed in that meet included Weston's Natalie King, Darien's Caroline Nash and Katie D'Andrea for Yale; Weston's Jessie Hornung for Penn; Cornell's Jeannie Friedman, of Wilton; Lindsay Bragg of Darien and Marissa Morgan of Wilton for Georgetown; Kenzie Bess of Norwalk for Columbia; and Brown's Caitlin Brisson of Greenwich, Mairi McKellop of Ridgefield and Breuk Bass of Westport.
D'Andrea rowed for Yale's second Varsity 8 that took second. Nash and King rowed for the fourth place first varsity eight. Friedman coxed the Cornell Varsity 8, which took sixth.
Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and Yale all representing the New England division are among the 16 teams that have earned a berth in next weekend's championships along with Princeton, Virginia, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Washington, Cal, Clemson , USC, Wisconsin, Washington State and Ohio State. One team that did not qualify was Texas, which won the Conference USA title. It also won the Big 12 crown. The Longhorns' roster includes Westport's Courtney Nicklas, a junior from Staples who helped Texas' second varsity eight win its race last weekend.
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