Bromfield Acton-Boxborough varsity boys rowers won the national championship at the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, last weekend, besting 20 other teams from around the country.
More than 150 teams entered a crew in the nationals, which had 335 entries in 18 events.
National rowing champs for boys varsity 4+, from left: Justin Hayes, Luca Basile, coxswain Grace Heavey, Cole Winsor, Charles Watt, and Coach Brian DeDominici. The USRowing Youth National Championships were held in Sarasota, Florida, June 12–14. (Courtesy photo)
The BA-B crew sent three crews of 16 rowers and three coxswains to the nationals this year, with the varsity boys 4+ coming from behind in the A finals to take the gold medal by less than a second over the second-place team from Lyme, Connecticut, and just ahead of the third-place team from Deerfield. Rounding out the top six finishers were teams from Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Dallas.
The team was coxed by Grace Heavey with rowers Justin Hayes, Cole Winsor, Charles Watt, and Luca Basile.
Brian DeDominici, the boys’ head coach, said he was thrilled with the results. “Our top 4 crew was able to bring an entire year of work together for a spectacular performance this weekend. It was a privilege to be able to watch them execute their race plan in the final and then see it pay off so well.”
DeDominici noted that the crew won their initial heat, which allowed them to advance directly to the semifinals, and placed second to Deerfield in that race, which was a high-enough finish to make it to the finals. The final race was extremely close. “Only one and a half seconds separated the top three crews at the finish,” he said.
DeDominici also coached another boys 4, this time in the lightweight division, that came in 17th out of 22 crews overall. “They performed very well and will gain invaluable experience from earning the opportunity to compete at such a high level,” he said. Rowers were Garrett White, Oliver Perrine, Josh Hollenberg, and Mark Borghesani, with coxswain Austin Rotker.
The girls varsity 8+ also qualified for the nationals and competed against 24 national crews, coming in 15th.
One of two public schools
“This is the premier event for high school rowers, and only two public schools participated. To finish 15th among the top high school ‘clubs’ in the country was outstanding,” said Holly Hatton, the girls’ varsity coach.
“The varsity girls 8 really came together under adversity,” Hatton said. The crew was without Courtney Oka, its stroke rower, because of illness, yet still qualified for the nationals at the Lowell regatta. “The next three weeks involved a steep learning curve of adapting to a new stroke and finding more speed with higher stroke rates and developing a more challenging race plan,” Hatton said.
“They never lost faith in each other and, at the end of the day, had their very best race of the season on the last day of racing,” Hatton added. The crew was composed of rowers Camryn Stecyk, Kirsten Thiim, Molly Hart, Grace Ott, Anna Dawley, Annie Cooper, Kati Nugent, and Meghan Glade, with cox Emily Erdos.
Girls 8+ rowers take 15th place at the USRowing Youth National Championships held in Sarasota, Florida, June 12–14. Coxswain is Emily Erdos, and rowers are Anna Dawley, Meghan Glade, Molly Hart, Grace Ott, Kati Nugent, Kirsten Thiim, Camryn Stecyk, and Annie Cooper. (Courtesy photo)
This report was prepared by a member of the Harvard Press staff from a press release provided by the Bare Hill Rowing Association.
