The Jumbos cap an impressive year after winning their first NESCAC championship with Tufts’ 13th NCAA Division III title overall
The Jumbos celebrate their first NCAA Division III championship on June 1. Photo: Tufts Athletics
Behind a dominating performance from the first varsity eight, the Tufts women’s rowing team won the 2024 NCAA Division III championship on June 1 at Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio—the first Tufts NCAA championship in rowing.
The NCAA championship is awarded to the team with the highest point total from the first varsity and second varsity races at the NCAA regatta. Tufts won the first varsity race and was second in the second varsity competition. The Jumbos earned 54 points, ahead of Wesleyan University and Williams College, which tied for second with 47 scores.
Tufts won the first varsity NCAA championship as well with a near-length victory on June 1. The Jumbos came across the finish line with a 6:51.162 time for the 2000 meters, over three seconds in front of second-place Wesleyan (6:54.334). Williams, which had edged Tufts in the heats on May 31, was third in the grand final with a 6:55.979 mark.
The Jumbos led at the 500-meter mark and pulled away from there. Within the second 500 meters they took that near-length lead and even expanded on it. At 1500 meters they led by five seconds and the only competition from then on was for second place.
The Jumbo first varsity champions are coxswain Hannah Jiang, A26, Rose Tinkjian, A26, Janna Moore, A27, Shira Roberts, A24, Emma Mahoney, E24, Summer Maxwell, A24, Samara Haynes, A26, Karen Dooley, AG24, and Emma Lyle, A26.
The Jumbo second varsity was the national runner-up also on June 1 in a 6:58.134 time. In what became a two-team race, Williams College was first in a 6:56.229 mark. The Jumbos led by a small margin for half the race, but the Ephs pulled ahead after 1000 meters. They finished with a half-length advantage on the Jumbos.
The Jumbo 2V8 team was coxswain Maddie Rosato, A27, Margot Durfee, A24, Reilly Uiterwyk, A25, Amanda Downing, MBS24, Hadley Keefe, A26, Lucy Howell, A25, Aoife Schmitt, E24, Julia Zipoli, A26, and Sydney Barr, A27.
This caps a strong 2023-24 season for coach Lily Siddall’s women’s rowing program. The Jumbos won the Collegiate Eights event at the Head of the Charles in October. In the spring the Jumbos won the Points Trophy at both the New England Rowing Championships and the National Invitational Rowing Championships. They also captured their first New England Small College Athletic Conference title.
In addition to being Tufts’ first NCAA championship in rowing, it is the school’s 13th overall.
In related news, the Tufts men’s rowing team tied for second place out of the eight teams at the 2024 Division III Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) championships on June 1 on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey. The Jumbos won the IRA Division III second varsity eight race, and placed third in the first varsity eight.
