The varsity eight of Susan Tuvell, Caroline DeWeirdt, Karoline Loretan, Emma Dow, Aly Clark, Sammie Kearney, Eliza Orrick, Morgan Burgess, and Alex Belden won the season-opening William Smith Challenge on the Canal against a tight field. The time gap between first and third place was just 3.8 seconds, with the Herons crossing the line at 17:24.1 followed by Liberty League rivals Rochester (17:27.5) and RIT (17:27.9). Traditional regional power Ithaca was a distant fourth (17:57.4) with St. John Fisher finishing fifth in 19:50.8.