At the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association Spring Championship Regatta, the Bromfield Acton-Boxborough girls first varsity 8 scored silver medals. The event, held on the Merrimack River in Lowell Sunday, May 27, saw escalating wind conditions after the morning time trials. The race committee canceled the small boat races and later shortened the course for the 8s from 1,500 to 1,000 meters. In the boys first varsity 8 final, five out of six crews contested the race, resulting in a re-run. The boys second varsity 8 and the girls quad both took bronze.
The girls first varsity 8 streaked past some crews they had not yet beaten this season. As for the shortened race, said program director and girls head varsity Coach Holly Hatton, “The 1,000-meter format takes a whole new mind-set. It’s basically start and go—crank it for all it’s worth.” She added, “Brookline was able to capitalize on the calmer water in lane one and just took off from the start and came away with the win. I thought our girls rowed a gutsy second 500 meters and were able to clear the rest of the field for a satisfying silver.”
The boys first varsity 8 finished fifth after a fracas of a final. A haphazard start in rough water had boats encroaching into each other’s lanes. “The coaches felt the officials were not properly course correcting,” said BA-B boys head varsity Coach Brian DeDominici. Typically, crews cutting across lanes would be disqualified, but the start of the race was so jumbled and so many coaches filed complaints that the referees decided to scrap it and start over. “It’s not that uncommon, and it has happened at MPSRAs before,” DeDominici said. The crews launched again, rowed all the way back up the course, and then lined up at the stake boats. The second run was clean.
One boy in the first varsity 8 could not race due to an injury sustained outside of crew; DeDominici moved athletes up from boat to boat, and Acton-Boxborough senior Stephanie Gardner of the varsity girls team volunteered to row with the boys in their third varsity 8. That boat ended the day in fourth place.
All in all, DeDominici said, “I think the team did very well. We were short a guy, we had an injury, and all these boats were racing in lineups that had had no practice. They all came off the water feeling they had given it everything they had and put in a quality race.”
The girls second varsity 8 had a strong time trial in the morning but drew the short straw for the slower outside lane for the afternoon final. “They battled it out to the end and felt they had a really solid piece,” Hatton said. “These are the times when you just have to trust what you gave, know you did your best, and understand that you had no control over the elements.”
With no BA-B boats qualifying for USRowing Youth National Championships at regionals earlier in May, the MPSRA Spring Championship Regatta marks the end of the spring season. For athletes who don’t plan to row in college, the regatta was the last time they’d take up the oars. Other soon-to-be-graduates will continue to sweep and scull at the next level. And the rising seniors, juniors, and sophomores will be back in September for BA-B’s fall rowing season. “I think the many challenges the crews faced this spring have made them stronger as a team,” Hatton said. “They now can appreciate more what it takes to be at the top of your game in rowing, and for those returning, I believe there will be a renewed commitment to working harder and coming back stronger.”
Varsity boys results
First varsity 8: Stefan Scornavacca, Spencer Tingle, Connor O’Shea, Alexander Ewing, Brian Fay, William Thompson, Jack Walsh, Kyle Veo, and coxswain Nilay Maity, 5th (5:14.3, 1.5K)
Second varsity 8: Cameron McGurk, William Bardenhauer, Christopher Clark, Samuel Jackson, Kevin Yu, Charlie Carbonell, Nikhil Kommineni, Patrick Stoffel, and coxswain Amy Zhu, 3rd (3:32.4, 1K)
Third varsity 8: Isaiah Osborn, Jack Kelly, Maxfield Mascarin, Jonathan McWhite, John Hart, Stephanie Gardner, Ryan Camposano, Maxwell Ewing, and coxswain Sarah Burke, 4th (3:58.7, 1K)
Varsity girls results
First varsity 8: Katherine Fay, Anna Shlimak, Erin Smith, Grace White, Anya Buchovecky, Summer Maxwell, Sophie Bodager, Kaylee Liu, and coxswain Sila Inanoglu, 2nd (3:47.6, 1K)
Second varsity 8: Zoe Flanzer, Alissa Kong, Fiona Carrez, Valentine Bulpin, Katherine Worden, Molly O’Neill, Emma Perkins, Sophia Defoe, and coxswain Rachel Shrives, 6th (4:15.9, 1K)
Quad: Valentine Bulpin, Sophie Bodager, Sophia Defoe, Fiona Carrez, 3rd (7:06.8, 1.5K)
