On Sunday, Oct. 7, the Bare Hill Rowing Association’s Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough Rowing teams traveled to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester to compete in the third New England Junior and High School Regional Championship Regatta, hosted by the Shrewsbury High School Rowing team. This was the second major event of the team’s fall season and featured close competition with rowing programs across New England including high schools, community rowing programs, and private clubs.
Overall, the team performed well, placing third in the race for the total-points trophy, behind Community Rowing of Brighton and Boston College High School.
Girls team
The morning sculling events were run over a straight two-mile course and saw great performances in the smaller boats with Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough taking first places in two junior women’s events: the quadruple sculls and the double sculls. Bromfield seniors Caroline Hart, Tola Myczkowska, and Elizabeth Wilkey were joined by junior Sylvia Sarnik in the quad. Bromfield sophomore Molly Hart and freshman Julia LeBlanc combined for the victory in the double.
Racing in the women’s junior single sculls for the first time, Bromfield sophomore Meghan Glade finished tenth.
Bare Hill Rowing Program Director and Women’s Head Coach Holly Hatton commented on the experience: “Racing a single over a head course is probably the most difficult discipline in rowing. You not only learn a lot about negotiating the course but a lot about courage and determination. The girls did a great job in tackling this new challenge.”
Later in the morning, the course was lengthened to 2.5 miles for the sweep rowing events. The women’s junior novice eight finished fifth out of 17 in their event with Bromfield rowers Emma Stoffel, Michelle Ginouves, Allison Goldsher, and Maeve French, all freshmen. Novice boats consist of rowers who are in their first or second season of rowing.
The Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough women’s junior first-varsity eight also dominated their event with the fastest time on the course for a women’s event. Bromfield seniors Caroline Hart, Myczkowska, Wilkey, Sarnik, sophomore Molly Hart, and freshman LeBlanc were all racing for the second time and were joined by junior Ki Jung Lee and sophomores Annie Cooper and Emily Erdos (coxswain) in this event.
The women’s junior second-varsity eight finished second to Community Rowing. The boat included Bromfield seniors Polly Lauer (cox) and Caroline Turnbull, juniors Colleen O’Shea, Emily Mitchell, Lindsay Darlow, sophomores Olivia Stoffel, Panna Rasania, and Glade, who was racing for a second time.
Overall, Hatton was upbeat.
“I was very pleased with the results today,” she said. “Our new approach to training has really helped the fitness level of the girls, and it showed.”
According to Hatton, the athletes coming off the water never felt the ‘fall off’ in power during the race that they experienced last year.
“This to me is the greatest success of our day,” she concluded.
Boys team
The men’s junior quadruple sculls contributed to the overall team success with a second-place finish, powered by Acton-Boxborough sophomore Liam Mackin, juniors A.J. Higgins and Chandler Root, and senior Joey Weaver. Steering problems caused them to finish slightly off course, but without penalty.
The men’s junior double took first place with Bromfield senior Nick Walker in the bow seat.
The men’s sweep events started off with a second-place finish by the novice eight-oared shell just behind the Westford-Littleton boat. The rowers included Bromfield sophomores Eddy Zhong (coxswain) and Philip Wesley and freshmen Austin Rotker, Daniel Shrives, Luca Basile, and freshman James O’Shea of Bolton.
“The novices had a great race, with many of them making their racing debuts,” said coach Pat Scott.
The varsity sweep events began with a victory by the men’s junior four, steered by Bromfield senior Julia Dexter as coxswain. The rowers included Bromfield’s Walker in his second event of the day.
“The four is continuing to gel and make improvements,” Scott said.
Both the men’s junior first and second varsity eights also medaled, securing third place in their races, behind the CRI and Greater Lawrence Rowing community programs. The first-varsity boat was led by Bromfield sophomore coxswain Emma Kenny-Pessia.
“In the eights, Paul Cotnam in particular has stepped up and made big strides to be a big contributor in the first boat,” Scott said.
The second varsity boat consisted of Bromfield junior Amanda Sundheimer (coxswain), on loan from the girls team, junior Jake Turchetta, and sophomores Pat Pesa and Rory Wirch.
On Sunday, Oct. 14, the team will be in Pembroke, N.H., competing in the New Hampshire Championship Regatta.
