WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Wellesley College crew team won the 2011 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Rowing Championship on Saturday morning in Worcester. The title was the first for the Blue since the 2003 event.

The Blue took the home the title in the Varsity Eight with a strong push in the final 500 meters to edge Coast Guard by half a second.  Wellesley turned in a time of 7:11.6 to narrowly edge the Bears, who crossed the finish line in a time of 7:12.1.  Smith (7:21.9) was third, followed by WPI (7:23.5), Mount Holyoke (7:27.0) and Clark (8:12.9).

In addition to its first place finish in the Varsity Eight, Wellesley won the Florence Jope Smith Cup, which is awarded to the program with the most overall points in the day's races.  It was the just the second time, and first since 2008, that the Blue captured the cup.  Wellesley also won the Novice Eight with a time of 7:33.1.

Defending cup champion Smith won a pair of races and finished second in this year's quest for the cup.  The Pioneers took home first in the Second Varisty Eight (7:32.0) and Third Varsity Eight (7:59.9).

The 2011 All-NEWMAC teams were announced at the awards ceremony following the races.  Varsity honorees included Stella Doughty (Minneapolis, MN) and Ann Rokosky (Watertown, CT ) of Clark, Holly Madden (Sinking Spring, PA) and Sarah Jane Otey (Littleton CO) of Coast Guard, Robyn Kranzler (Agoura Hills, CA) and Cleo Schneider (Grinnell, IA) of Mount Holyoke, Chelsea Andrews (Holden, ME) and Gabriela Kubick (White Bear Lake, MN), Caroline Dodge (Hanover NH) and Shernaz Dossabhoy (Belmont, NH) of Wellesley, and Suzanna Kelley (Attleboro, MA) and Amy Loomis (Mahtomedi MN) of WPI.  

The All-Novice team was comprised of Gina Jenkins (Federal Way, WA) of Clark, Catherine Durand (Howell, NJ) of Coast Guard, Kristen Therrien (Putnam, CT) of Mount Holyoke, Marissa Buie (Edina, MN) of Smith, Rachel Reed (Bloomfield Hills, MI) of Wellesley and Gabrielle Demac (Shrewsbury, MA).

The Coach of the Year as well as the conference's sportsmanship award will be announced on Tuesday following the annual coaches' meeting, while the All-Academic team is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

2011 NEWMAC Rowing Championships
Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, MA
Hosted by WPI

Lineups

2011 NEWMAC Rowing Championships

Florence Jope Smith Cup Standings
Wellesley                       36 points
Smith                             32 points
Coast Guard                   20 points
Mount Holyoke             18 points
WPI                                16 points
Clark                              4 points

Varsity Eight Champions