Orange and Blue Women’s Rowing wrapped up another successful race weekend as four boats were sent to the Knecht Cup. Two eights and two fours were entered for the Bison rowing team last Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13. All four boats reached the Grand Finals and finished in the top five. The Varsity Four and Second Varsity Eight finished in third place, while the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Four each placed fifth. 

On Saturday, the Varsity Eight, led by coxswain Katie Lash ’26, won their preliminary heat. They finished in front of Massachusetts, La Salle, Canisius, Lehigh and Duquesne. The Bison later won in the semifinals against Drexel, Marist, Monmouth, Ithaca and Canisius. On Sunday, the boat posted a 6:45.45 in the final to finish in front of Villanova, but behind Boston, MIT, Drexel and Radcliffe.

Junior Hattie Hopper’s boat, the Second Varsity Eight, were runners up in both preliminary and semifinal rounds. While they trailed Wisconsin, they beat Connecticut, Duquesne and Fairfield in the first heat. The Bison also finished their final race in 6:57.94 to place third behind MIT and Drexel, beating Jacksonville, Wisconsin and UConn.

Following suit, the Varsity Four boat placed third in their final race with a 7:49.27 time, putting them shortly behind Lafayette and Drexel. They started the weekend strong with a runner-up performance in the preliminary heat behind Jacksonville. In the semifinals, they placed second again behind Marist while besting Georgetown, Fordham, MIT and Duquesne.

The final Second Varsity four boat finished second against MIT in prelims while staying ahead of Lehigh, Fordham and UConn. They ended Sunday’s race with a time of 8:19.32 to beat Jacksonville, but fell to MIT, UMass, Wisconsin and Drexel. 

The Bison will be back in the water on April 26 to race for the Ford Lake Cup.