Open-weight varsity four, from front, Kyle Hayes, Charles Watt, Joey Weaver, and Nick Walker. Not visible, coxswain Julia Dexter. (Photo by Daniel Shrives)
The Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough rowing team will be sending three boats to the Junior Nationals this year. They are the girls varsity four, the girls lightweight varsity four, and boys open-weight varsity four
The three teams earned their slots last Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18, by winning their respective finals at the 2013 Northeast District Junior Championship in Lowell, Mass., hosted by USRowing, the national governing body for the sport. In addition to fostering broader regional competition, the regatta selects the best three crews in each boat category to compete in the Youth National Championships to be held this year in Oak Ridge, Tenn., June 7-9. Entries in the district championship are open to all member organizations throughout the northeast, from small sculling clubs to public and private high schools and large regional rowing clubs.
The team entered five crews in the competition this year. To accommodate the large number of entries, 25 alone for the womens youth 4+, the regatta format included heats, semifinals, and finals held over two days. Six boats competed in each individual race, with the top finishers progressing to the next level.
Racing 2,000 meters, the girls double scull team of Tola Myczkowska and Elizabeth Wilkey began the team’s weekend with a third-place finish in their Saturday morning heat, advancing to the semi-finals on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, they placed fourth in their semifinal against very strong sculling programs and did not progress to the finals Sunday afternoon.
Two winning girls varsity teams
On Saturday afternoon, the varsity girls four of Emily Erdos (coxswain), Caroline Hart, Olivia Maclean, Molly Hart, and Sylvia Sarnik easily won their heat in the womens youth 4+, rowing a strong, steady pace to a 15-second victory over the nearest competitor. On Sunday they repeated with a victory in their semifinal in the morning and a solid victory in the finals in the afternoon, claiming a first-place medal and an invitation to Youth Nationals.
The varsity girls lightweight four of Amanda Sundheimer (coxswain), Courtney Oka, Ki-Jung Lee, Meghan Glade, and Panna Rasania also earned a first place medal and an entry at Youth Nationals with a victory in their Saturday heat and a very close finish in the final on Sunday afternoon, winning by less than a second over both the second- and third-place crews.
Girls coach and Bare Hill Rowing Association director Holly Hatton said of the team’s performance, “I was extremely impressed with what our girls accomplished today, from the brave race the double put together against far more experienced scullers to the commanding gold-medal effort by the varsity four to the incredibly scrappy and determined victory of the lightweight four.”
The boys lightweight four of Anya Plucinsky (coxswain), Chandler Root, Liam Mackin, Andrew Borghesani, and Tim Phillips finished third in their Saturday afternoon heat to earn a spot in the semi-finals. In their Sunday morning semi-final they started strong but—being more accustomed to the 1,500-meter length of high school races—faded as the extra length of the 2,000-meter race caught up with them. They rallied with a strong sprint in the final 300 meters to close the gap but fell three seconds short of qualifying for the finals, finishing fourth.
Boys open-weight four dominates
The boys open-weight varsity four of Julia Dexter (coxswain), Kyle Hayes, Charles Watt, Joey Weaver, and Nick Walker competed against 20 other crews to also earn an invitation to Youth Nationals and a first-place medal. They demonstrated their characteristic strong, focused rowing, taking the lead early off the starting docks and finishing comfortably ahead in their heat, semifinal, and final races.
Boys coach Patrick Scott was thrilled with how his athletes raced. “Every day I tell them that I will never ask for anything less than their best effort, and I believe I got that today. The lightweight four made it a great race against some very fast crews, and the varsity four were on a mission. It was a great day for Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough Rowing.”
Next weekend the entire Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough squad will complete the spring sprint racing season at the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association Spring Championship in Lowell. Two weeks later the three qualifying crews will travel to Oak Ridge, Tenn., to compete in the Youth National Championships.
