The women’s crew competed in three races yesterday on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., facing tough opposition from William Smith College, College of the Holy Cross, Colby College and Connecticut College.

The crew saw an increase in its finish times yesterday because of 10 to 15 mile-per-hour headwinds on the course, but it was still able to post strong showings in two of its three races.

The Bombers’ first varsity 8 posted a third-place time of 7:38.49 in its five-boat race, coming in 18 seconds behind first place William Smith and a minute and a half ahead of last place Connecticut.

In the second varsity 8 contest, the Blue and Gold faced a challenging three-boat race against Holy Cross and William Smith. Ithaca finished the race with a time of 7:54.31, but it was not enough to overcome the other competitors. Holy Cross finished the race fewer than 20 seconds ahead of the Bombers, while William Smith took second.

While the results of the first and second varsity 8 races weren’t what the crew had been looking for, the novice 8 boat was still able to set the tone for the rest of the season by posting the South Hill squad’s only first-place finish. The novice 8 earned the day’s closest margin of victory by coming in at a time of 7:57.30, just two seconds ahead of William Smith and almost one minute before Holy Cross.

The women’s crew returns to competition for its last regular season regatta at 8 a.m. Saturday against the Coast Guard Academy and Williams College in Pittsfield, Mass.