Corrected and updated May 23, 2016
The weekend Lowell Invitational regatta on May 14 and 15 had picture-perfect weather Saturday and no rain Sunday. But high winds made rowing conditions tough and shortened the final races Sunday, with several events being settled by heat times rather than the typical head-to-head competition one expects on the Merrimack River.
Bromfield A-B varsity rowers took home their share of medals, including two golds, two silvers, and three bronze finishes.
Second boys varsity 8+ gold medalists, from left: Alex Ewing, Garrett White, Josh Hollenberg, Brian Johnson, Brian Fay, Kyle Into, Kyle Veo, Mark Borghesani, and Austin Rotker. (Courtesy photo)
The first girls varsity 8+ finished with the bronze, just a half-second from the silver but behind perennial favorite Saugatuck from Connecticut, which typically wins this event in the nationals. The second girls varsity 8+ took the silver in its finals, behind the second Saugatuck entrant, but beating the third by two seconds.
“Our 1V and 2V 8s showed real poise and grit in racing in almost oceanic conditions in Sunday’s final,” said Holly Hatton, the girls varsity coach. “The 1V was in a nail-biting finish for second place, and the 2V took command of the silver medal in the last 250 meters of their race.”
The girls also had two qualifiers for the finals in the single-sculling event and qualified for the doubles as well. The second varsity 4+ came in fourth in its heat, missing the finals despite having the sixth fastest time of the day out of 18 crews in the event.
The second boys varsity 8+ also medaled, winning the gold with five seconds to spare over Arlington-Belmont. The winning time of 6:08 would also have been competitive in the first varsity race.
Bromfield had three crews qualifying for the third boys varsity 8+ and placed first, third, and fifth in that event’s final.
“High winds and waves made the racing hard,” said Brian DeDominici, the boys varsity coach. “I was very impressed with the skill all crews showed as they pushed their way down the course. Their ability to be adaptable and handle the conditions was a large factor in our success this weekend.”
Several other varsity and novice boats in the 4+ and 8+ races would have competed in the finals, but their events were canceled because of wind. They were instead awarded medals based on their heat times.
Girls Results
Single scullers: Ally Goldsher (fourth in heat, 8:33.4), Courtney Robb (fourth in heat, 8:54.2), and Erin Smith (second in heat, 8:38.7).
Girls varsity 2: Kamryn Steyck and Kirsten Thiim (second in heat, 7:56.6).
Second girls varsity 4+: Cox Leeza Petrov, with rowers Fiona Carrez, Becky Nitschelm, Sierra Gomez, and Taylor Tracey (fourth in heat, 7:52.2).
First girls varsity 8+: Cox Katie Erdos, with rowers Caroline Noyes, Steyck, Thiim, Grace Ott, Smith, Goldsher, Emma Stoffel, and Lindsey Hayes (third, 6:47.5).
Second girls varsity 8+: Cox Amy Zhu, with rowers Aly Veo, Robb, Maeve French, Rachel Foote, Valentine Bulpin, Ariella Bull, Alissa Kong, and Hannah Forgo (second, 6:41.7).
First girls novice 8+: Cox Sila Inanoglu, with rowers Kaylee Liu, Anna Shlimak, Kat Fay, Molly O’Neill, Song Issah, Mia Lepardo, Zoe Flanzer, and Summer Maxwell (second in heat, 7:33).
First girls novice 4+: Cox Rachel Shrives, with rowers Liu, Shlimak, Fay, and Maxwell (first in heat, 7:49).
Boys Results
Boys varsity 2: Will Thompson and James O’Shea (fourth in heat, 7:27).
Boys 2x: Jack Gardiner and Jack Walsh (third in heat, 7:12).
Second boys varsity 8+: Cox Austin Rotker, with rowers Kyle Veo, Josh Hollenberg, Alex Ewing, Brian Fay, Kyle Into, Brian Johnson, Mark Borghesani, and Garrett White (first in finals, 6:08.9).
Third boys varsity 8+: Cox Josh Canning, with rowers Connor Reitler, Chris Arsenault, Ed Dunn, David Shlimak, Matt Adams, Dan Shrives, Aiden Clarage, and Andrew Huan (first in finals, 6:21).
Fourth boys varsity 8+: Cox Anne Wesley, with rowers Jon McWhite, Jack Klem, Alex Weaver, Eric Xing, Alex Hill, Maxfield Mascaran, Teague Neschke, and Jack Kelly (fifth in finals, 7:05).
First boys varsity 4+: Cox Grace Heavey, with rowers Luca Basile, Cole Winsor, Oliver Perrine, and Justin Hayes (first in heat, 6:36; finals canceled due to high winds).
Second boys varsity 4+: Cox Josh Canning, with rowers Veo, White, Borghesani, and Mitch Densen (first in heat, 6:49; finals canceled due to high winds).
Third boys varsity 8+ (first novice boat): Cox Vito Montesa, with rowers Isaac Abouaf, Dwight Fairchild, Tal Lindsey, John Hart, Robert Watt, Connor O’Shea, Nikhil Kommineni, and Jason Lancellotti (third in final, 6:41).
First boys novice 4+: Cox Montesa, with rowers James Magyar, Ryan Luo, Lindsey, and Connor O’Shea (second in heat, 7:44).
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected and updated. In the original article, the photo caption incorrectly referred to the second boys varsity 8+ as silver medalists. They were, in fact, gold medalists .
