Westwood, MA --- WPI women's rowing varsity eight was selected as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Boat of the Week for the week ending on April 14th.
 
In a regatta featuring eight of the top 14 crews in NCAA Division III, the Engineers finished second in its heat and third in the grand final in Sunday racing on Lake Quinsigamond. In its heat, WPI pulled ahead of Hamilton and RIT to secure a spot in the grand final. The Crimson and Gray used a strong second half to reach the finish line in 7:19.25, ahead of Hamilton (7:24.72) by five seconds and RIT (17.45) by nine seconds. 
 
In the grand final, third-ranked Trinity posted a wire-to-wire winning time of 7:25.25 while fourth-ranked Bates, was second in 7:29.11.  The 10th-ranked Engineers fended off defending NEWMAC and NCAA champion and fifth-ranked Wellesley for third by two seconds (7:33.91 to 7:35.91).  No. 7 Hamilton, which defeated WPI last week, was fifth in a time of 7:40.99 and fell to the Crimson and Gray for a second time on Saturday while No. 13 William Smith (7:43.55) took sixth. 
 
WPI's boat consisted of Jules Prisco (Pelham, NY), Kathryn Woodland (Boxford, MA), Maggie Kirwan (Wolfeboro, NH), Megan Tupaj (Amherst, NH), Nicole Miller (Hanover, MA), Charlotte Bourne (Northampton, MA), Ilyssa Delizo (New City, NY), Samantha Arroyas (Uxbridge, MA) and coxswain Emily Howard (Riverside, RI).
 
This week's honor is the second-consecutive nod as the Boat of the Week for the nationally-ranked Engineers in 2024.
 
WPI is back in action Saturday on Lake Quinsigamond, squaring off with Connecticut College, UNH and William Smith.  Racing begins at 8:30am in another connected regatta connected with Clark with a heats/finals progression that also features Conn College, Trinity and Colby. The Crimson and Gray will return to the lake shortly after this Sunday in the Bernie Brown Cup featuring Tufts with a start time of 8:30am.
 
NEWMAC Release