WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bates women's rowing team captured their first NESCAC title since 2022 thanks to the first varsity eight's thrilling victory Sunday at the National Invitational Rowing Championship on Lake Quinsigamond. 

It's the eighth NESCAC championship in Bates women's rowing history, the most among any sport at the college. This also marks the first time in Bates history that three different teams have won the NESCAC title in the same school year, as women's rowing joins field hockey and women's basketball as conference champions in 2025-26. 

It was a tight battle to determine the conference champion, as the NESCAC calculates the winner based on total combined points scored by the second and first varsity eights. The Bates women's second varsity eight took fourth place in their grand final with a time of 7:35.581, good for 10 points. Meanwhile, the Tufts University 2V won in 7:21.227, scoring 16 points. 

Then the first varsity eight took to the water. Led by sophomore coxswain Leah Brody (Larchmont, N.Y.) and sophomore stroke seat Virginia Adams (Hanover, N.H.), the Bobcats raced to the finish in 7:06.210, beating runner-up Williams (7:08.518) by more than two seconds. Tufts came in third in 7:13.582, scoring 34 points in the race and giving them 50 total. Bates' first-place finish was good for 40 points. Combined with their 10 points scored in the 2V race, the Bobcats also finished with 50 total points.

By rule, the tiebreaker went to Bates due to the 1V's victory and the Bobcats celebrated a NESCAC title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. 

"The women's first varsity eight grand final was executed to perfection," Bates head coach Peter Steenstra said. "Brody and her crew started out in fifth place through the first 500 meters. Then they walked their way through the field, stunning everyone, including the commentators on the live broadcast." 

Two other Bates crews also earned medals for the women's team. 

Led by first-year coxswain Riley Tran (Broomfield, Colo.) and sophomore stroke seat Kat O'Connell (Larchmont, N.Y.), the women's fourth varsity eight earned a silver medal, taking second to Tufts with a time of 7:59.643 in their grand final. Meanwhile, the third varsity eight, led by first-year coxswain Sophie Shaw (Great Barrington, Mass.) and sophomore stroke seat Evie Fox (Dallas, Texas) won a bronze medal with their time of 7:57.667 in the 3V grand final. Tufts won in 7:50.453 and Williams finished runner-up in 7:55.325. 

On the men's side, the Bobcats got a fourth-place finish from their fourth varsity eight and all the Bates crews made their respective grand finals. The second and first varsity eights both out-raced Colby and both finished in fifth place. Wesleyan won the NESCAC title thanks to their 1V winning in 6:10.420. The Bates 1V crossed the finish line in 6:29.284 in their grand final. 

"For our men's first varsity eight to beat Colby was huge," Steenstra said. "It gives them a shot at being selected for the IRA National Championship. We'll find out more on Tuesday but we are very happy with this result." 

Overall, the Bates men's and women's teams combined to score 330 points, good for fourth place out of 21 scoring teams. The women tallied 180 points, second-most to Tufts (188) while the men scored 150 points, fifth-most in the field and 10 more than rival Colby.

Bates National Invitational Rowing Championship Lineups

Bates WV8 lineup: Bow: Hannah de Fontaine; 2: Greta Oberdiek; 3: Isabelle Martin; 4: Megan O'Donnell; 5: Quinn Gleason; 6: Maggie Gill; 7: Olivia Smith; Stroke: Virginia Adams; c: Leah Brody

Bates W2V8 lineup: Bow: Mia Senturk; 2: Froney Dreher; 3: Adina Suchman; 4: Arden Minor; 5: Fili Keszti; 6: Kiki Hillery; 7: Ava Teleki; Stroke: Charlotte Comrack; c: Shoshana Levy

Bates W3V8 lineup: Bow: Cal Dagner; 2: Olivia Hill; 3: Merrill Doherty; 4: Carolyn Musselwhite; 5: Ella Lisle; 6: Taylor Glick; 7: Caitlin Davidson; Stroke: Evie Fox; c: Sophie Shaw

Bates WV48 lineup: Bow: Isabelle Switanek; 2: Ella Westhoff; 3: Zeiva Sussman; 4: Juliana Loesche; 5: Athalia Blasser Mulligan; 6: Eva Calcutt; 7: Mackenzie Higgins; Stroke: Kat O'Connell; c: Riley Tran

Bates MV8 lineup: Bow: Erik Lindholm; 2: Brendan Kelly; 3: Samuel Perozek; 4: Conor McGuckin; 5: Roy Bellows; 6: Lando Putnam-Bagley; 7: Luke Johnson; Stroke: Luke Desmaison; c: Darien Chiang

Bates M2V8 lineup: Bow: John Cleary; 2: Hugh McCabe; 3: Benji Richards; 4: Bryce Ahn; 5: Kelly McKaige; 6: Will Mitchell; 7: Thomas Pacinda; Stroke: Peter Gratwick; c: Micah Shimizu

Bates M3V8 lineup: Bow: Logan Schlichter; 2: Diego Davalos; 3: Jack Tierney; 4: Nicholas Hoerle; 5: George Udris; 6: Sam Williams; 7: Cooper Drazek; Stroke: Finian Guinney; c: Sara Maquera

Bates M4V8 lineup: Bow: Soren Davidson; 2: Louis Consigli; 3: Xavier Drouin; 4: Solomon Kayobotsi; 5: Oscar Green; 6: Alex Appleton; 7: Nate Oh; Stroke: Sean McCabe; c: Benji Cao

Bates M5V8 lineup: Bow: Randy Li; 2: Aidan O'Brien; 3: Billy Pierce; 4: Hayden Lee; 5: Timmy Howe; 6: EJ Herrmann; 7: Patrick Cohen; Stroke: Alwin Ma; c: Hannah Daher