The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough crew teams kicked off their season rowing against Community Rowing Incorporated, Wayland-Weston, and Greater Lawrence last Sunday. The teams raced over a shortened distance of 1,000 meters on the Merrimac River. Spring races are typically 1,500 to 2,000 meters.
During the winter training season, Coach Holly Hatton had told the girl, “You win medals in the winter, and you collect them in the spring.” Many of them took this to heart and trained in earnest. After a very productive spring break camp, Saturday’s results showed that the hard work and dedication would pay off.
Bromfield AB’s first varsity eight, with coxswain Polly Lauer and rowers Caroline Hart, Sylvia Sarnik, Molly Hart, Olivia MacLean, Tola Myczkowska, Heidi Nocka, Elizabeth Wilkey, and K.C. Faulknerm bested CRI, a perennial favorite on the national scene, for the first time in team history. The crew attacked the course right off the starting line and came home with a first-place finish.
The second varsity eight, with coxswain Emily Erdos and rowers Lilla Kis, Ki Jung Lee, Katja Lierhaus, Katrina Gross, Caroline Turnbull, Paulina Sarnik, Emily Mitchell, and Mackenzie Grant finished fourth in their race. The rowers agreed that it was not yet the best they could do and that there was plenty of room for improvement in the regattas ahead.
Bromfield-AB also entered a lightweight four, racing in the second varsity event. Coxswain Erdos led the crew of Kis, Sylvia Sarnik, Turnbull, and Lee to an impressive finish against CRI, nipping them at the line by .6 seconds to earn second place.
Wilkey and Myczkowska managed a very respectable third-place against several CRI crews in the doubles race. Maclean finished second in her inaugural singles race to her part-time sparring partner from CRI.
“In the three years I have been with the program, this is the most committed and talented group of athletes I’ve worked with,” Coach Hatton said. “We all have high expectations, but we also all know that there’s still a lot of work to be done to produce the results we are hoping for.”
The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough boys had fantastic practices to finish spring break crew team training, and the momentum carried over. The boys first varsity eight came in ahead of the Wayland-Weston crew, a team they have used as a benchmark for top speed in the past. Coxswain Julie Dexter called the race for rowers Ben Wilmot, Sam Ginouves, Pat Ware, Alex Boyd, Kyle Hayes, Matt Chambers, Taylor Lapland, and Nick Walker.
In the second varsity race, Coxswain Amanda Sundheimer and rowers Matt Robinson, C.J. Root, A.J. Higgins, Kevin Immerman, David Castaneda, Ryan Densen, and Tim Phillips powered through the race, finishing first after one of their signature fast starts.
“Their speed and ability helps everyone,” Coach Pat Scott reports. “It gives the first varsity boat a great workout to try to beat them off the line. It gives the third varsity group a great carrot to chase, to get into such a fast boat.”
After only one short practice together, the third varsity crew of coxswain Danny Shrives, rowers Cameron Hamilton, Andrew Borghesani, Ben Cannon, Christian Thiim, Rory Wirch, Pat Pesa, and James O’Shea, tied for second place.
“Awesome length, but still some work to do,” Scott said. There was a “good showing from the small boats considering how limited the practice time has been,” he said.
Both teams will travel to Saratoga, N.Y., this weekend to test their mettle against more than 40 teams and some of the strongest in the region.
