The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough oarsmen traveled to New Preston, Conn., last Sunday, accepting their first invitation to compete in the Founder’s Day Regatta. The travel combined with the unique opportunity to race in this “fours only” regatta proved to be a team-bonding trip for both boys teams.
The crews ran up against an impressive list of talented opponents. Some of these populate their boats with post-graduate year athletes: Cincinnati, Kent, Salisbury, Taft, and Gunnery.
“Our goal was to get boats into finals, and we did,” Coach Pat Scott explained. “Once there, they raced well.”
On the novice side, the boys rowed in back-to-back regattas. The team had a strong showing at the Lowell Novice Challenge on Saturday. Every boat placed in the top three in their flights, and every boat came home with a medal.
On Sunday in the Founders Day Regatta, the first novice crew had to race from behind after catching a boat-stopping crab (an oar blade stuck in the water). The second novice crew showed what they are capable of, racing to the wire and placing second by less than a second.
Both coaches were pleased to report that things ran very smoothly. The trailer was unloaded and loaded quickly and cleanly.
“[The regatta] gave the guys a chance to really observe some fantastic rowing and learn the importance of clean rowing,” Scott said.
Third in petite final: first varsity, coxswain Julie Dexter, Sam Ginouves, Pat Ware, Matt Chambers, Taylor LeBlanc.
First in petite final: second varsity, coxswain Karina Edwards, Ben Wilmot, Alex Boyd, Kyle Hayes, Nick Walker.
Third in flight: third varsity, coxswain Julie Dexter, Matt Robinson, Chuck Watt, A.J. Higgins, C.J. Root
Fifth in flight: fourth varsity, coxswain Karina Edwards, Cameron Hamilton, Rory Wirch, Kevin Immerman, David Castaneda.
Fourth in flight: fifth varsity, Andrew Borghesani, Christian Thiim, Ryan Densen, Tim Phillips.
Third in flight: first novice, coxswain Austin Rotker, Jake Turchetta, Paul Cotnam, Joey Weaver, Luca Basile.
Second in heat: second novice, coxswain Danny Shrives, James O’Shea, Justin Gordon, Justin Hayes, Liam Mackin.
