WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bates rowing teams combined to take home the overall points trophy Sunday at the National Invitational Rowing Championships, with the women winning their fifth straight NESCAC title and the men placing second in the conference, good for automatic bids to the NCAA and IRA Championships respectively. 

"It was an outstanding day of performances in challenging conditions but we came away with the team points trophy, a NESCAC championship, and punched TWO tickets to the National Championship Regattas," head coach Peter Steenstra said. "Not a bad day of work by the Bobcats!"

In the women's first varsity eight grand final, the Bobcats placed third out of six crews with a time of 6:47.247. Ithaca won the race in 6:46.627 and Wellesley took second in 6:46.687. However, Bates finished ahead of the other NESCAC schools (Tufts and Trinity) in the race, securing the NESCAC title for the seventh time in program history and an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships.  

Meanwhile, the Bates men's first varsity eight placed fourth out of six crews in the grand final with a time of 6:01.306. The Bobcats finished ahead of perennial power Hobart (6:01.581) and, crucially, NESCAC foe Tufts (6:02.521). Williams won the race in 5:56.171 but the Bobcats earned one of the NESCAC's two automatic bids to the IRA National Championship regatta by placing second in the conference. MIT and Marist finished second and third in the 1V grand final respectively. 

While the first varsity eights got the job done for the automatic national championship bids, the rest of the Bobcats did their part to secure the points trophy. 

Led by junior coxswain Isabella Sobolewski (Washington, D.C.) and sophomore stroke Genesis Bussey (Bronx, N.Y.), the women's second varsity eight continued its dominant season with a victory in its heat (7:06.208) and its grand final in a blazing fast 6:59.413 on Sunday. Wellesley was the closest crew in the grand final, finishing second in 7:06.083. 

Led by junior coxswain Kerry Ettinger (Camden, Maine) and sophomore stroke Emily Everett (Fair Haven, N.J.) the Bates women's third varsity eight won its heat over Wellesley and Hamilton in 7:14.783. Then they went on to victory in the grand final, winning among a group of seven crews in 7:11.657. 

Other top three grand final performances on Sunday for Bates included: The women's novice eight taking third in 7:31.889 and the men's third varsity eight placing third in 6:19.519. 

The NCAA Women's Rowing Championships are set for Friday, May 27 and Saturday, May 28 in Sarasota, Fla. The IRA National Championship Regatta will take place June 3-5 in Mercer Lake, N.J.

Bates WV8 lineup: Bow: Eliana Weissmann; 2: Molly Connors; 3: Sophia Marota; 4: Katarina Dickson; 5: Lillian Kinder; 6: Casey Winter; 7: Ollie Young; Stroke: Maeve Mikulski; c: Lucy Del Col

Bates W2V8 lineup: Bow: Darya Lee; 2: Hope Stamp; 3: Mary Trafton; 4: Abigail Somosky; 5: Alexa Bowerfind; 6: Olivia Szachta; 7: Lydia Barker; Stroke: Genesis Bussey c: Isabella Sobolewski

Bates W3V8 lineup: Bow: Beatrice Johnston; 2: Josephine Stevens; 3: Sydney Paul; 4: Eloise Botka; 5: Livia Bernhardt 6: Hannah Burdick; 7: Madeline Hogan; Stroke: Emily Everett; c: Kerry Ettinger

Bates WO4 lineup: Bow: Claire Scott; 2: Yiwen Wu; 3: Kathryn Richards; 4: Olivia Dekker; c: Hannah Braslau

Bates WN8 lineup: Bow: Julia Buzacott; 2: Miryam Keller; 3: Caitlin Chan; 4: Maggie Kornfeind; 5: Abby Marriott; 6: Dominique Bunnell; 7: Madeline Kemp; Stroke: Rylee Eaton; c: Isabel Beck

Bates MV8 lineup: Bow: Sean Christiansen; 2: Colton Sochia; 3: Thomas Monahan; 4: Charlie Berman; 5: Timothy Bates; 6: Steven Sparks; 7: Robert Sobolewski; Stroke: Espen Wheeler; c: Aidan Braithwaite

Bates M2V8 lineup: Bow: Benjamin MacDonald; 2: Xavier Fallone; 3: Samuel Marchman; 4: Benjamin Auerbach; 5: Alexander Burbelo; 6: William Crate; 7: Maxwell Cavallaro; Stroke: Jack Fruechte; c: Evan Saltman

Bates M3V8 lineup: Bow: Tom White; 2: Andrew Frey; 3: William Corcoran; 4: Charles Renvyle 5: Oliver Firmenich; 6: Nicholas Van Ingen; 7: Riley Young; Stroke: Ian Van Loo; c: Rowan Cody

Bates MO4 lineup: Bow: Jimmy Staller; 2: William Conway; 3: Martijn den Boon; 4: Samuel Faasen; c: Celia Tolan