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| Women’s 1st Novice 8 (left to right): Erica Marksteiner, Mary Egan, Kate Lee, Ally Bollman, Christie Devlin, Katja Lierhaus, Jocelyn Harte, Jillian Saydah, Diana Fox, and Pat Scott (coach). (Courtesy photo) |
Young and fast and moving through the water on a perfect day in May, the Bromfield rowers powered their shells to two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze, for a strong end to the season at the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association sprint championships last Sunday in Lowell, on the Merrimack River.
Six of the seven boats placed first in their qualifying heats. The men’s Second Varsity 4 event had only one heat, giving Ryan Andrews, David Choi, Ian Christie, Brendan Revane, and coxswain Emma Williams Bromfield’s first gold.
The teams went on to win three more medals in the finals. In the women’s First Novice 8 Ally Bollman, Jillian Saydah, Mary Egan, Erica Marksteiner, Diana Fox, Kate Lee, Katja Lierhaus, Jocelyn Harte, and coxswain Christie Devlin captured a gold, continuing their strong showing from last week, when they placed third at the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Junior District Championships in New Jersey.
Scott Myslinski, Mike Child, Conor Finnegan, Kendall Cotton, and cox Katie Papazian rowed to a second in the men’s First Varsity 4.
Seventh-grade rowers Lily Berryman, Sarah Eldredge, Caroline Harte, Clara Wang, Trisha Kelly, Olivia MacLean, Tola Myczkowska, and eighth-grader Mackenzie Grant, with cox Polly Lauer, brought back a bronze in the women’s Second Novice 8.
Bromfield head rowing coach Pat Scott said, “With the younger athletes, we try not to dwell on results too much, instead focusing on the long-term goals and being successful when the athletes are juniors and seniors. But it’s hard to downplay how happy we are with the results.”
The boys and girls Varsity 1 teams both placed fourth in their close races.
“This used to be a ‘I-hope-we-make- finals’ program,” said Scott. “Now we’re a program that aims to place at every regatta, and it’s a goal we are accomplishing with regularity. Winning breeds winning, and as proud as I am of this team today, I can’t wait to see what we look like in two years.
Scott and junior novice coach Jeff Shaw led the rowers through their final event on Tuesday: an end-of-the-season cleanup of the shells and the lifeguard house at the pond.
