CAMBRIDGE, MA (October 19, 2025) – The Tufts University women's rowing team powered its way to a third-straight victory in the Collegiate Eights event today at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) today.
Entering today as the two-time defending champions, the Jumbo first varsity earned the right to be the first team to start in today's 37-team women's Collegiate Eights race and they did not look back. Adding to Tufts' strong performance today, the Jumbo second varsity was third overall and the Tufts third varsity had the 11th best time.
Tufts' first team finished with a 16:49.117 time, the only sub-17 minute time in the event. Second-place Williams College's A team finished in 17:04.527. Conditions always vary, but today's winning time by the Jumbos was their fastest of their three Head of the Charles victories (17:02.698 in 2024, 18:03.969 in 2023).
Tufts' winning line-up included
Josie Monroe,
Sami Haynes,
Rose Tinkjian,
Emma Lyle,
Zenani Himlin-Mayekiso,
Aubyn Mackey,
Sam Dodds,
Sydney Barr and coxswain
Hannah Jiang.
Jiang and Lyle have been on each of the three HOCR Collegiate Eights title teams at Tufts. Barr, Haynes, Monroe and Tinkjian have won two HOCR Collegiate Eights championships each.
The Jumbo second varsity came out of the ninth starting spot to record the third-best time of 17:12.678. They were ahead of the A teams from NESCAC rivals Trinity College (17:14.988, 4th place) and Wesleyan University (17:29.893, 7th place) among others.
The second varsity boat for Tufts had
Erica Wayland,
Katherine Tombaugh,
Saskia Petitt, Caroline Schelter,
Sonia Haynes, Celia Carson,
Lecia Sun,
Sonja Wartman and coxswain
Mackenna Billington.
Equally impressively, the Tufts third varsity came out of the 37th and last starting spot to place 11th overall with a 17:44.142 mark. They were just behind the A teams from conference foes Middlebury College and Bates College.
Tufts' 3V boating was
Jacqueline Mulle,
Sophie Cumming,
Ava Chan,
Julia Zipoli,
Sheelyn Pharr,
Hudson Saunders,
Ava Elliot,
Sanjana Rao and coxswain Ava Nguyen.
"HOCR this year was such a special way to cap off the fall seaso," said Jiang, coxswain of the 1V8. "Getting to race with bow #1 for the second year in a row was an incredible honor and a testament to the hard work and legacy of all the alumni who've helped push this program forward over the years. I'm so grateful to have had the chance to do it one more time and to pass another bow #1 down to next year's team.
"On top of that, this year shows how strong our program is across all levels," she continued. "I can confidently say that no program has won this event while coming third with the 2v and having an 11th-place finish in the 3v, which gives them automatic requalification. (Head Coach Lily Siddall) always reminds us to dream big and have H.O.P.E. (Hold On, Possibilities Exist), a message that everyone on the team has truly embraced and one that's driven us to the fantastic results we achieved this weekend."
The prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta has been held since 1965, making this year's event the 60th in its history. The regatta is recognized as the world's largest three-day rowing event, attracting thousands of athletes and spectators each year.
This concludes the fall portion of the Tufts Women's Rowing schedule. The two-time defending NCAA Champion Jumbos will return to action in March for the spring racing season.
--JUMBOS--
