The Lowell Invitational Regatta was held last weekend during beautiful rowing weather on the Merrimac River. About 40 schools and clubs competed in 167 races, with the Bromfield Acton-Boxborough (B A-B) team winning many medals. Several of the squads are looking forward to doing well next weekend in the regional regatta, which is the qualifier for this year’s nationals.
The Lowell Invitational Regatta featured qualifying heats Saturday, typically with three heats of five to six boats each, with the top four finishers moving on to the semifinals Sunday morning. If a team placed in the top three of its semifinal, it qualified for the finals held Sunday afternoon.
Most of the B A-B crews made it past the first and second round, so B A-B had several entries that got into the finals for their events.
First varsity boys 4 Gold Medal winners throw their coxswain, Grace Heavey, into the Merrimac River. This is a traditional toss for all winning boats in a regatta. Rowers are Cole Winsor, Charles Watt, and Justin Hayes, with Luca Basile behind Watt. (Courtesy photo)
The boys’ crew placed their best rowers in the 4s and won their event in a time of 6:27 for the 2,000-meter course. They beat Arlington-Belmont by eight seconds. Gold-medal rowers were Justin Hayes, Cole Winsor, Charles Watt, and Luca Basile, with cox Grace Heavey. Twenty-one teams competed in the heats for this event.
The second varsity boys 4 placed fourth in the finals. The boys’ team also fielded a lightweight 4 entry, which won the bronze medal in the event’s finals.
The first varsity girls 8+ crew took the bronze medal in a 21-team race with a time of 6:34, just four seconds out of second place. The boat was coxed by Emily Erdos and featured rowers Courtney Oka, Kirsten Thiim, Kamryn Steyck, Grace Ott, Molly Hart, Annie Cooper, Anna Dawley, and Meghan Glade.
Biggest challenge
“The first varsity boat had the biggest challenge, racing several of the fastest crews in the Northeast,” said girls’ varsity coach Holly Hatton. “In the finals they had their best race to date, with a big push in the second half to draw them the closest they’ve been to these crews all season.”
The second varsity girls 8+ placed fifth in their finals, which was a surprise for coaches and rowers alike. The crew consisted of cox Brigitte Lewis and rowers Claudia Weaver, Courtney Robb, Caroline Noyes, Amanda Accorsi, Becky Nitschelm, Becca Lloyd, Olivia Hemond, and Hannah Forgo. The second varsity boys 8+ also placed fifth in their finals.
The first varsity girls 4 placed third in their heat and then fifth in the semifinals. Katie Erdos coxed rowers Kati Nugent, Maeve French, Emma Stoffel, and Ally Goldsher. Coach Hatton said, “Even with a strong sprint, they were not able to move into third position to progress to the finals. It was a solid race, but more things can be worked on for next weekend.”
The novice teams also did very well at Lowell, getting into several finals and winning one gold medal.
Hatton summed up the day: “I’m very proud of what this crew accomplished. Each race is a building block toward the next competition. They sure solidified some of what we have been working on for the past two weeks. Now it’s getting really exciting for the next round of racing.”
This report has been edited by the Harvard Press staff from a press release provided by the Bare Hill Rowing Association.
