WORCESTER, Mass. -- The MIT women's openweight crew team won gold in the Collegiate 4 and Collegiate 8 on Saturday at the season-opening Quinsigamond Snake Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond. MIT also earned fifth place finishes in each event in calm and clear conditions with a slight headwind and flat water.

"All four crews did a really nice job adapting to new lineups and making them successful," said MIT assistant coach Matt Hanig following racing. "Our goal was to race aggressively, and they all did a great job on that front. It was a strong start to the year against strong competition, especially (the MIT) lightweight women." 

COLLEGIATE 4 "A" - 1st of 12 (19:01.2) - GOLD 

C. Kayla Liu 
4. Darin Wilkowski 
3. Sofia Chastain 
2. Katarzyna Opalinska
1. Emma Nagle 

MIT improved on its fourth-place finish last season with a gold in Collegiate 4s. Overall, MIT dominated the event, with the openweight and lightweight women from Cambridge owning four of the top five spots in the standings. The openweight four finished in 19:01.2 to win the friendly competition with the MIT lights in second (19:04.8). 

COLLEGIATE 4 "B" - 5th of 12 (19:48.4) 

C. Anishka Trehan 
4. Lucia Ayala 
3. Lia Donley 
2. Angela Dong 
1. Quinn Van Konynenburg 

MIT's second entry finished ahead of sixth place Merrimack (20:27.9) and behind the MIT lightweight 'B' entry (19:48.4). 

COLLEGIATE 8 "A" - 1st of 21 (16:03.7) - GOLD 

C. Michelle Peng 
8. Shriya Thakur 
7. Elizabeth Jackson 
6. Lana Ghamra 
5. Brooke Birdsall 
4. Emma Hopkins 
3. Madeleine Laws
2. Emma Cox 
1. Lucy Greenup 

MIT claimed gold in the event for the third year in a row and the fourth time in five years. The Engineers' 'A' entry was the fastest crew by a 12.7 second margin ahead of the time posted by runner up Wellesley College (16:16.4). The MIT lightweight women earned bronze in the same event. 

COLLEGIATE 8 "B" - 5th of 21 (16:55.1) 

C. Madeline Ryan
8. Amelia Haller 
7. Kristen DiConza 
6. Alice Xu 
5. Ainsley Buice 
4. Marina Awad 
3. Sinead O'Gorman-Jones 
2. Sofia Mayus 
1. Ava Illingworth 

MIT's effort helped the Engineers (16:55.1) finish .9 second ahead of sixth place WPI. MIT was 7.1 seconds behind fourth place Colby (16:48.0).

UP NEXT: 

• MIT will begin preparations for the Head Of The Charles Regatta on Saturday, October 17.

STAY CONNECTED: 

• For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.