Coach Holly Hatton
Bromfield Acton-Boxborough rowers competed in their inaugural spring regatta on Saturday against Wayland Weston and Greater Lawrence crews on Lake Cochituate in Wayland. Both boys and girls crews put in some solid racing after a short preseason due to weather challenges, setting the baseline for the season, with plenty of room for improvement. Rowers welcome the shift from time trial races of the fall to head-to-head competition over a 2000-meter course.
In spite of first race jitters, the girls varsity crew of cox Emily Erdos, Caroline Hart, Sylvia Sarnik, Molly Hart, Olivia Maclean, Tola Myczkowska, Kirsten Thiim, Elizabeth Wilkey, and Julia LeBlanc won their race. An ineffective start led to a struggle to get off the line and a rushed ratio. It was not until halfway through the race that the crew hit its stride. Coach Holly Hatton observed, “There’s a lot of power in this crew. It just needs to be harnessed.”
The team raced a lightweight girls eight for the first time in team history. Wayland Weston has a national caliber lightweight crew, and this was a great opportunity to see what kind of speed they had. As expected, Wayland Weston led the way from start to finish. The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough crew, coxed by Amanda Sundheimer with rowers Courtney Oka, Ki Jung Lee, Meghan Glade, Panna Rasania, Hannah Forgo, Caroline Turnbull, Katie Smith, and Maddie Winsor had a solid race, and all members are looking forward to having a chance to improve and gain speed.
Bromfield Acton-Boxborough girls fours had very strong races, each winning by open water. The first varsity four with rowers Caroline Hart, Sylvia Sarnik, Molly Hart, and Olivia Maclean, had cox Emily Erdos at the helm, while gox Amanda Sundheimer led the lightweight four crew of Courtney Oka, Ki Jung Lee, Meghan Glade, and Panna Rasania. These two crews have set their sights on Regional Qualifiers and Nationals.
Valuable tactical experience
The third girls varsity eight included both varsity and novice rowers, cox Eda Zhou, Lindsay Darlow, Annie Cooper, Emma Stoffel, Olivia Stoffel, Ally Goldsher, Maeve French, Maddie VanDorpe, and Cammy Farren. After only two short practices together, the crew jelled well for the race.
Leading into the final 250 meters, the girls were caught off guard by a blazing sprint from Wayland Weston to finish a very close second. With this race behind them, they have gained valuable tactical experience and are looking forward to a rematch in the coming weeks.
The girls novice eight posted a solid race on the heels of the Wayland Weston team and well ahead of Greater Lawrence. Cox Katie Erdos, Emma Stoffel, Hannah Forgo, Ally Goldsher, Maeve French, Grace Turnbull, Kristen Hoggins, Anjani Hodgkins, and Grace Heavey were satisfied with the result only because it was their first outing of the season. The group is busy planning improvements for the regattas to come.
On the boys’ side, the first varsity eight finished just behind Wayland Weston while being “out rated” by four beats. With a few more weeks on the water, the crew of cox Julie Dexter, AJ Higgins, Nick Walker, Joey Weaver, Chuck Watt, Kevin Immerman, Kyle Hayes, Andrew Borghesani, and Liam Mackin will have that next gear. Coach Pat Scott concluded, “For now though, it is a good sign that they can keep up with one of the best crews in the area while rowing at a lower rate.”
The long week finally caught up to the boys second varsity eight on a cold, rainy morning. The crew, coxed by Anya Plucinsky, with rowers Jake Turchetta, CJ Root, Justin Gordon, Connor Summers, Brian McDonough, Paul Cotnam, Ryan Densen, and Tim Phillips, finished a distant second behind Wayland Weston but decisively ahead of Greater Lawrence.
A comfortable strong piece
The third varsity eight was populated predominantly by novices: cox Lauren Masters, Luca Basile, Justin Hayes, Chris Melby, David Castaneda, Cole Winsor, Ed Dunn, Garrett White, and Oliver Perrine. For a crew that had not ever practiced together, their solid first place finish was a bit of a surprise. The oarsmen reported it was just a comfortable, strong piece all around.
The boys first varsity four put what they learned from their early race to use. The second time out, cox Julie Dexter and rowers Joey Weaver, Chuck Watt, Kyle Hayes, and Nick Walker got on the water to really race. Coach Scott said, “They got a little sloppy with the rowing, but most importantly they got aggressive.” The crew brought the rating up and finished first.
The boys lightweight four with cox Lauren Masters, CJ Root, Liam Mackin, Andrew Borghesani, and Tim Phillips, held off a strong late sprint from Wayland Weston to cross the line first. The oarsmen reported legs feeling dead only 500m into their race, but they gutted it out, something that is becoming very characteristic of this crew.
The third boys varsity four with cox Anya Plucinsky, AJ Higgins, Kevin Immerman, Jake Turchetta, and Connor Summers, had a harder time fending off fatigue and an impressive sprint from Wayland Weston on its way to a second-place place finish.
Good technical rowing
The boys novice eight with cox Austin Rotker at the helm and rowers James O’Shea, Cole Winsor, Ryan Doncaster, Luca Basile, Alex Hill, Justin Hayes, Ed Dunn, and Garrett White got in front after the first three strokes and never looked back. The crew won with open water and good technical rowing. Coach Pete Peterson said, “Now that we have a solid win, we will face much stronger competition this weekend at Saratoga—the focus is to be calm, assertive and in control of ourselves.”
By Coach Peterson’s account, “The novice boys four rowed well, the best they have all season. And they learned a lot.” The four was powered by Kyle Into, B. Shrives, Dan Shrives, and Josh Marinelli with cox Teague Neschke.
This weekend the team will travel to Saratoga where they will compete with more than 40 crews from all over New England.
