The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough (Bromfield A-B) rowing crew took home gold, silver, and bronze medals at the New England High School Championship Regatta on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester this past weekend.
Bromfield A-B’s first gold came in the fourth race of the regatta, in which the girls’ varsity quad placed first in a field of eight entries with a time of 13:16.31, just a second faster than Niscayuna A but almost two minutes faster than the third-place finisher. Rowers were Courtney Oka, Panna Rasania, Kamryn Stecyk, and Grace Ott.
Double scullers Kirsten Thiim and Allison Goldsher continued their winning ways by placing third out of 10 entries in their signature event, with a time of 14:48, about 45 seconds off the fastest pace.
‘Blade work best of season’
“I was most pleased with the technical progress the girls have been making. Their rhythm and blade work was the best I’ve seen all season…This paid off in strong performances by both varsity eights as well as our sculling boats,” said varsity girls’ and head coach Holly Hatton.
Boys’ single scullers Luca Basile and Justin Hayes shared a silver in their event, with times of 13:43 and 13:44 respectively, just 13 seconds off the fastest pace. Because the times were just one second apart and the starts may not be exact, they shared the silver medal.
The boys’ 2nd novice 8+ was second in its event with a time of 13:40. Rowers were Michael Gecawicz, Jonathan McWhite, Eric Guditz, Alex Ewing, Luka Ilic, Maxfield Mascarin, Aiden Clarage, and Alex Weaver, with Anne Wesley (cox).
Another silver was earned by the girls’ novice 4+ with rowers Becky Nitschelm, Lindsey Hayes, Alyson Veo, and Courtney Robb, with Sarah Bradley (cox). Their finishing time was 15:43, about 45 seconds off the gold-medal pace.
The second gold of the day came from the boys’ 1st varsity 4+, which finished in a time of 15:27, beating the silver boat by 20 seconds. Rowers were Basile, Charles Watt, Hayes, and Liam Mackin, with Grace Heavey (cox). The results were even more impressive when you consider that their time beat about 20 competitors in two varsity 1 fields.
The signature events were the varsity 8+ races, with the girls placing third out of 10 competitors, in a time of 16:09, 25 seconds out of first place behind the Wayland-Weston team. Rowers were Oka, Thiim, Stecyk, Rasania, Goldsher, Annie Cooper, Katrin Nugent, and Meghan Glade, with Emily Erdos (cox). The varsity 2 boat was second out of six competitors in a time of 17:18. Rowers were Emma Stoffel, Ott, Claudia Weaver, Rachel Foote, Olivia Hemond, Jordan Werst, Alexis Smith, and Hannah Forgo, with Katie Erdos (cox).
‘Big gains’ for boys’ varsity
The boy’ varsity 1 8+ also won a bronze, with a time of 15:06. Rowers were Cole Winsor, Ed Dunn, Daniel Shrives, Garrett White, James O’Shea, Mark Borghesani, Ryan Doncaster, and Connor Reitler, with Austin Rotker (cox).
“The entire team made some big gains at practice, and it showed this past weekend in Worcester. We had some excellent results, but on top of that I am very happy with the progress each boat has made in just a week’s time,” said boys’ varsity coach Brian DeDominici.
The race featured the first-ever U15 (under 15 years old) category, which allowed boats of four eighth-grade scullers with cox to compete for the first time. In this event, both the boys’ and girls’ U15 teams won silver.
The U15 girls’ team rowers were Alice Pope, Emily Brown, Taylor Tracey, and Mia Hopman, with Brigitte Lewis (cox). The U15 boys rowers were Caeden Bishop, Liam Makosky, Dylan Darosa, and John Hart, with Nilay Maity (cox).
Next: Two for Head of the Charles
Next week the Bromfield-AB team will send two crews to the Head of the Charles Regatta open team. The final regattas of the fall rowing season will be held the following weekend in Saratoga, New York, for varsity rowers and at Lake Quinsigamond for novice rowers.
The Bare Hill Rowing Association will be sponsoring its annual leaf-raking and fall-cleanup fundraiser during the first two weekends of November. Anyone interested in scheduling a yard cleanup can get information and sign up at BareHillRowing.com/raking.
Edited by John Osborn from a press release supplied to local papers by the Bare Hill Rowing Association.
The U15 girls’ team rowers in their first race placed second. Competitors were Alice Pope, Emily Brown, Taylor Tracey, and Mia Hopman, with cox Brigitte Lewis. (Courtesy photo)
