Worcester, Mass - The Colby Crew team traveled to WPI Saturday for their first competition of the season with the men competing for the Class of 2003 Cup and the women racing for the Jennifer McLaughlin Cup. Coming off a week of no time on the water due to the snow storm here in Maine posed an added challenge for the Mules.
 
On a day filled with brisk wind and choppy waters, the men's V8 boat finished 4th right behind Hamilton with a time of 6:09.50. 
 
"The men's V8 got off the starting line well and were in the fight with all the crews through the fist half of the race. The water conditions in the second half of the course, combined with not having been in the boat all week, made for a tough challenge in the second thousand and we made some mistakes that caught us. Given the caliber of the opposition, the men showed that even on a day when they felt "off", they were able to be competitive, and they're looking forward to the coming races." - Head Coach Stew Stokes
 
On the women's side of competition, the V8 boat finished fourth as well, securing a time of 7:42.50. 
 
"The women's team is young and relatively inexperienced this year and so this race was a challenge given the conditions and the caliber of our opponents. We learned a lot about how to handle the pressure of top-tier D3 racing and they are determined to build on what they learned for the upcoming races."
 
The men also had a 2nd V8 boat competing which finished third in their race. 
 
"The Men's 2nd V8 did a great job getting themselves into the race right off the start and taking a lead on the Hamilton crew early and never relinquishing it. They also had moments of struggling with the difficult water, as everyone did, but were able to increase their margin on Hamilton all the way down the course. This crew is a mix of youth and experience and they'll look to build on this weekend to find speed to compete with the top D3 crews."

Rosters:
Men's Varsity 8: Madeleine Zullow '24; William Eardley '26; Charlie Stevenson '24; Charlie Anderson '25; Brendan Barrett '27; Jack Weinberg '26; Jack Childress '26; Theo Grossman '27; Cole Christensen '27

Women's Varsity 8: Shayna Leinberger '26; Kirsten Ishii '25; Eliza Nilson '26; Alex Glotzbach '27; Ellie Pohlig '26; Zoe Dodge '26; Maryjane Pennington '25; Isabel Grimes '25; Isabel Jurado '27

Men's 2nd Varsity 8: Barlow Herbst '27; Justin Armata '27; Danny Sullivan '26; Elliot Do '25; Jack AbuHaider '27; Luca Krueger '24; Evan Goggin '24; Aidan Fowler '27; Bennett Jones '27

Colby Crew will be back in action this weekend racing the US Coast Guard Academy on April 13th in Medford, Mass.