Making program history, the women’s rowing team won the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday in Bethel, Ohio. Tufts’ first varsity eight rowed to a definitive victory, and the second varsity eight claimed second to secure the highest team score for the Jumbos.
The weekend’s results put an exclamation mark on a dominant year for Tufts rowing. Tufts won the Collegiate Eights race at the Head of the Charles in the fall and never looked back, achieving its first-ever NESCAC title on the road to the championships.
For Lily Siddall, in her first year as head coach, watching the first varsity eight surge out to a strong start in Saturday’s final on Harsha Lake was “surreal.” Midway through, Tufts led by about a length on Wesleyan University.
“You could see the dream really start to come together,” Siddall recalled.
The 1V maintained its lead throughout, clocking in at 06:51.162 for the 2,000 meters, more than three seconds ahead of second-place Wesleyan’s time of 6:54.334. Trinity College came away with third, crossing the line at 6:55.979, neck-and-neck with Williams College, who finished in 06:56.214.
Coxed by sophomore Hannah Jiang, the 1V lineup was filled by sophomore Rose Tinkjian, first-year Janna Moore, senior Shira Roberts, senior Emma Mahoney, senior Summer Maxwell, sophomore Samara Haynes, graduate student Karen Dooley and sophomore Emma Lyle.
“We expected going into the race [that it would be] very gritty [and] a very tough race,” Jiang said. “Crossing the line with such a huge margin … was awesome.”
Tufts was undaunted by a close loss to Williams in the qualifying round the day before, falling behind the Ephs by mere milliseconds. While both first and second place in the heats automatically advanced, the 1V made the necessary adjustments to win when it mattered.
“Normally we rely on our third 500 to be really strong and [for] our fitness to carry us through and make moves back on other crews as they start to get tired,” Maxwell, co-captain of the team, said. “But that didn’t really work for us in the heats. We had to change our plan and be more aggressive in the first half of the race to try to get out ahead earlier.”
The initial race also helped get some of the nerves out after not racing for three weeks.
“We were more mentally prepared to fight it out in the finals and that really helped to push us and give us the edge,” Jiang said. “We will do what it takes in order to get our bow ball over the line first.”
After the second varsity won their heat by open water, they faced another competitive Williams boat in the finals. Tufts led early on, but Williams clawed back to cross the finish first in 6:56.229, closely pursued by Tufts at 6:58.134. Trinity placed third with a time of 7:05.245.
The 2V consisted of first-year coxswain Maddie Rosato, senior Margot Durfee, junior Reilly Uiterwyk, graduate student Amanda Downing, sophomore Hadley Keefe, junior Lucy Howell, senior Aoife Schmitt, sophomore Julia Zipoli and first-year Sydney Barr. It was the program-best finish for the 2V at nationals, Uiterwyk said.
“To get to make that kind of history was unreal,” Uiterwyk said. “We had three seniors in our boat who have played a really integral role on the team. Getting to go out with a podium finish for them was something I was really happy to get to do.”
The 1V and 2V scores put Tufts at the top of the standings with 54 points, while Wesleyan and Williams tied for second with 47 points. A faster 1V time gave Wesleyan the tie-breaker for silver. Trinity placed fourth with 46 points. The NESCAC podium sweep exemplified the Jumbos’ challenging conference schedule prior to the championships.
To win it all this year represented a full-circle moment for Siddall. The very same athletes she recruited during her first year as an assistant coach in 2019 are now graduating.
“I wanted to help them end it on a good note,” Siddall said.
After missing out on NCAAs in 2021, the team placed sixth in 2022 and medalled in 2023, earning third place. Now, the seniors leave Tufts as national champions.
“This isn’t something that I would have really dreamed to be possible when I was a freshman at Tufts,” Maxwell said, starting college amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The program has come a long way in the last four or five years,” assistant coach Ethan Maines said. “The culture of the team has shifted a lot, and it’s become a place where people are really excited to be every day.”
That enthusiasm extends throughout the whole roster and has translated into results.
“You can’t row a boat alone,” Uiterwyk, an incoming team co-captain, said. “There’s 50 people who have put everything into getting this. … We’re so grateful.”
Jiang further noted how even as the seniors “paved the way” for the team, the returning rowers are still “really hungry to win.”
“Though I’m extremely proud of the lineup I got to be a part of this season, I don't think it’s magic or a ‘struck by lightning’ situation,” Maxwell said. “Tufts will be able to go forward, and even as my class has graduated, produce really fast boats.”
The newest graduates join the ranks of alumni who have propelled the program to its current status.
“This year’s team is the one that will be reflected on paper as the one that did it,” Maines said, “but a lot of people from many years before built the foundation for it to happen this year.”
Siddall was promoted to interim head coach at the beginning of the season, taking over from Noel Wanner, the previous director of rowing.
“As a women’s sports team, having a young, female head coach feels so empowering and awesome to be able to go out and work together with someone that really understands … what it’s like to be a female college athlete right now,” Maxwell said. “It’s been absolutely fantastic to see her blossom into the role of head coach and lead us with such determination and positivity.”
Part of why Siddall came to Tufts five years ago was to win a national title, and she saw this program had the vision for it, she said.
“I believe so strongly in what Division III and specifically the NESCAC stands for,” Siddall said. “This championship will continue to help us have more momentum as we continue to build [and] make more history for Tufts rowing.”
Editor’s note: Summer Maxwell was a deputy features editor at the Daily. Maxwell was not involved in the writing or editing of this story.
