The stately willows on the banks of Lake Saratoga wept in the steady rain on the second day of racing, but the Bromfield Acton-Boxborough crews kept their chins up in the 2017 Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga Springs, New York, Oct. 28 and 29. The girls first varsity 4 and the boys second varsity 4 each landed a bronze medal, and several other crews finished in the top five in their events. Two boats recovered from steering damage to finish their races.
The Head of the Fish is the team’s most competitive regional race of the fall season, said boys varsity Coach Brian DeDominici. “I was happy to see strong performances across the entire team,” he said. “We had lots of top-five and top-10 finishes, which in many cases put us as the first high school team behind some of the region’s larger club programs.” The boys fourth varsity 8 showed great determination, he added. “They sustained some boat damage during their race, leaving them with no stabilizing fin on the bottom of their boat. With no fin, the boat is very hard to steer, but the rowers and coxswain were able to use oar pressure and a light touch on the steering rudder to keep the boat straight and still manage to defeat a number of crews,” he said.
Holly Hatton, program director and girls varsity coach, said the girls showed versatility in sweeping and sculling. “In the events we raced in, we had the top public high school performance among our competitors,” she said. The girls second varsity 4 lost their steering system; coxswain Amy Zhu managed some creative power steering to get the boat across the line. “Overall,” Hatton said, “the girls now have the fitness to race with the best. Now we head into winter training with a focus on getting stronger.”
Due to high winds Saturday, officials canceled the women’s youth singles event.
Race Results
Varsity Boys
Men’s Junior U19 1x: David Shlimak, 13th place, 17:03.56; Matt Adams, 26th place, 17:03.56, Jack Walsh, 29th place, 17:20.68; 30th place, Kevin Yu, 17:31.31
Men’s Junior U17 1x: Christopher Clark, 10th place, 16:58.11; Dwight Fairchild, 25th place, 19:08.30
Men’s Junior 2x–: Spencer Tingle, Nikhil Kommineni, 16th place, 12:36.14
Men’s Junior Lightweight Double 2x-: Kevin Yu, Christopher Clark, sixth place, 12:7.85
Men’s Junior 1V 4+: Dwight Fairchild, Ben Buchovecky, Jack Walsh, Matt Adams, and coxswain Nilay Maity, fifth place, 11:14.07
Men’s Junior 2V 4+: Alexander Ewing, David Shlimak, Connor O’Shea, Kyle Veo, and coxswain Amy Zhu, third place, 11:47.87; Cameron McGurk, Brian Fay, Stefan Scornavacca, Jason Lancellotti, and coxswain Sarah Burke, sixth place, 11:49.28
Men’s Junior Lightweight V 4+: Ben Boucher, Jack Kelley, Ryan Composano, Will Bardenheuer, and coxswain Bri Bang, 19th place, 13:06.25
Men’s Junior 1V 8: David Shlimak, Dwight Fairchild, Ben Buchovecky, Matt Adams, Connor O’Shea, Alex Ewing, Jack Walsh, Kyle Veo, and coxswain Nilay Maity, 13th place, 10:41.55
Men’s Junior 2V 8: Cameron McGurk, Spencer Tingle, Christopher Clark, Jason Lancellotti, Stephan Scornavacca, Brian Fay, Kevin Yu, Nikhil Kommenini, and coxswain Amy Zhu, fifth place, 10:55.20
Men’s Junior 3V 8: Zac Shamah, Andrew Hill, Andrew Huang, Alexander Weaver, Isaiah Osborn, Sam Jackson, Charlie Carbonell, Patrick Stoffel, and coxswain Sarah Burke, fourth place, 11:4.10
Men’s Junior 4V 8: Ryan Composano, Will Bardenheuer, Oliver Smalanskas, Maxfield Mascarin, John Hawes, Max Ewing, Talmage Lindsey, Zach Myers, and coxswain Bri Bang, fifth place, 12:1.27
Men’s V 4X–: Christopher Clark, Matt Adams, Kevin Yu, Spencer Tingle, 10th place, 11:16.78
Varsity Girls
Women’s Junior 1V 8: Kaylee Liu, Zoe Flanzer, Ella Bull, Katherine Fay, Grace White, Summer Maxwell, Anna Shlimak, Erin Smith, and coxswain Sila Inanoglu, fifth place, 11: 47.58
Women’s Junior 2V 8: Emma Perkins, Hayley Minar, Molly O’Neill, Sophie Bodager, Alissa Kong, Alice Pope, Valentine Bulpin, Fiona Carrez, and coxswain Rachel Shrives, eighth place, 12:32.98
Girls Junior 1V 4x–: Sophia Defoe, Molly O’Neill, Hayley Minar, and Fiona Carrez, 18th place, 13:13.52
Girls Junior Lightweight 2x: Alissa Kong, Zoe Flanzer, 17th place, 14:22.26
Girls Junior 1V 4+: Kaylee Liu, Katherine Fay, Anna Shlimak, Erin Smith, and coxswain Rachel Shrives, third place, 12:28.20
Girls Junior 2V 4+: Ella Bull, Sophie Bodager, Valentine Bulpin, Alice Pope, and coxswain Sila Inanoglu, 20th place, 14:16.50; Emma Perkins, Sophia Defoe, Molly O’Neill, Hayley Minar, and coxswain Amy Zhu, 34th place, 18:9.62.
Jill Maxwell is a BA-B team parent.
