Northeastern Women's Rowing

2025 SEASON WRAP-UP & 2025-26 PREVIEW
What a remarkable year for our Northeastern Women's Rowing program! As we reflect on another championship season and look ahead to 2025-26, we're thrilled to share the incredible achievements of our student-athletes and the bright future that lies ahead.

2025 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: MAKING HISTORY
ELEVEN Straight CAA Championships!
Our Huskies claimed their 11th consecutive CAA Championship in Pennsauken, New Jersey, extending one of the most dominant runs in collegiate rowing history. Northeastern earned 47 points, winning three out of four events. Second place went to Drexel with 40 points. Northeastern now holds a conference-best 14 CAA Championship titles, cementing our legacy as the premier program in the conference.



NCAA Championships: Competing at the Highest Level
The Huskies concluded the spring season at the NCAA Championships on Mercer Lake, finishing 19th overall among the nation's elite programs. Our 2^nd Varsity 8 matched their highest finish ever with a 17^th place finish. This is our 11^th consecutive and 15^th overall NCAA Championship appearance.

Individual Excellence
Our student-athletes earned well-deserved recognition as well, with six Huskies making the All-CAA Team: seniors Camille Arnold-Mages, Ellexi Fulton, Windsyr Maughan, Firinne Rolfe, Victoria Thibeault, and team captain Heather Taylor.
 
Firinne Rolfe also earned the CAA Sports Leadership and Excellence Award for Women’s Rowing. The award is presented to the student athlete who represents the highest standards of teamwork, integrity, leadership, and sportsmanship in their academic and athletic achievements. Firinne went on to represent Canada at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay, earning a silver medal in the women’s 8, and a bronze medal in the women’s 4.


 
For an unprecedented second consecutive year, Windsyr Maughan was honored with the Elite 90 Award for Women’s Rowing. This award is presented at each of the NCAA’s national championships to the student athlete with the highest academic standing based on their GPA and number of credits earned. Windsyr posted an impressive 4.0 GPA while earning her BSc and Masters degrees.


 
This spring, a program record 15 student athletes earned the Collegiate Rowing Coaches National Scholar Athlete Award. To be eligible, a student athlete must have completed their sophomore year, and have raced 75% of the spring season, or at a championship event, in one of the three NCAA crews.
 
Heather Taylor earned a, Pocock, All-American honorable mention for her performance, stroking the varsity 8, and the leadership she showed as one of the captains of the team for 2024-25.

Coaching Staff: Excellence Recognized Again
Head Coach Joe Wilhelm was named CAA Coach of the Year for the 11th time, matching our championship streak! But the accolades didn't stop there—Wilhelm was also named Region 2 Coach of the Year by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association for the third consecutive season. Our staff of Ariel Handler, Andrew Wieler, Tess Miller and Charlotte Kershaw was also named Region 2 CRCA Coaching Staff of the Year, for the third straight season.
  LOOKING AHEAD: 2025-26 SEASON PREVIEW
As we turn the page to the 2025-26 season, the excitement and expectations are higher than ever. Coach Wilhelm shares his optimism: "While we will definitely miss the 17 seniors who graduated last spring, we have added some outstanding athletes in the 21 freshmen who joined our team this fall. We still have the core of both varsity 8’s from last spring to provide leadership, and the freshmen class has added some great depth and spirit to the squad this fall”

Head of the Charles, October 19-20
This fall the Huskies have three eights and a four entered into the Head of the Charles as well as two crews in the Alumni 8 event, and one in the Masters 50+ event for our alums. If you are interested in rowing in one of the alumni crews, contact Head Coach, Joe Wilhelm at j.wilhelm@northeastern.edu. The Alumni and Parents Reception will be held at the Henderson Boathouse at 4:00 pm on Saturday, Oct 18. This has become THE social event of the fall rowing season, and we hope to see many of you there. Please use this link to REGISTER.
 
Spring 2026
The upcoming spring season features four races, with one home race on the Charles River. During the regular season the Huskies will face 8 schools from the ’25 NCAA Championships, Yale, Virginia, Syracuse, Penn, Rutgers, Dartmouth, Boston University and Rhode Island. The spring season concludes with the Women’s Sprints in Worcester, MA on Sunday, May 3 and the CAA Conference Championship on the Cooper River course on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16. The NCAA Championship is on the 1996 Olympic Course on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia, May 29-31.
  A WORD FROM HEAD COACH JOE WILHELM
As we celebrate another championship season and look ahead with excitement to 2025-26, I want to thank our incredible alumni and parents for your unwavering support. Your encouragement, from the shore at regattas and through your continued connection to the program, means everything to our student-athletes and coaching staff.

I was incredibly proud of how our student athletes represented Northeastern at the NCAA’s. As many of you know, our semi finals were postponed from Saturday morning and we ended up racing between 6:30 and 7:30 that evening, only to have to turn around and race the finals between 7:30 and 8:30 Sunday morning. Every member of our team handled the delay with poise and professionalism, and all came out gunning in the finals the next morning to put together some of the most spirited and exciting races of the year. This group truly put together their best races on the biggest stage of the season.

While we are proud of our CAA Championships and NCAA appearances, I want you to know that we are not satisfied. Despite the changing landscape of college athletics, where the large programs just seem to get richer, we believe it is the spirit of the student athletes which defines a team, and our spirits couldn’t be higher. Our student athletes returned to Henderson with great energy and enthusiasm which motivates our staff of coaches, trainers, strength and conditioning staff and academic counselors, to provide them with the outstanding student athlete experience they deserve. We believe the best way to elevate our program even further is by putting the health and well being of our student athletes first, and building a program on their behalf, not at their expense.
While we will miss the 17 senior who graduated last spring, but it is a sign of a healthy program when that many student athletes stay with the program for four, or for some, five years. We have the core of both varsity 8’s returning and we are adding a very talented class of 21 freshmen. We aren’t rebuilding, we are reloading and from what we have seen in the first few practices, we are going to have a great year.

Remember to register for the Head of the Charles reception, and contact me if you are interested in rowing in one of our three alumni eights. I hope to see many of you at the boathouse on October 19^th.

Go Huskies! 🐾
Stay connected with Northeastern Women's Rowing throughout the 2025-26 season as we continue building on this incredible legacy of excellence.