The Bromfield Acton-Boxborough rowing team traveled to its first away matchup this year, besting longtime local rivals Wayland-Weston at a scrimmage on Lake Cochituate on Sunday, May 23. Official times were not released and spectators were not allowed, but the girls single and first varsity 8 and the boys first and second varsity 8 all won by two or three boat lengths—or “open water,” as they say to be polite in Great Britain—reported program director and girls head varsity coach Holly Hatton. The girls second varsity 8 appeared to have lost in a squeaker. “They were really moving in their sprint but came up short,” Hatton said.
The athletes dusted off their trailer-loading skills for the short road trip. Boys head varsity coach Brian DeDominici said his crews executed their races well. “I am very happy with how all the boats performed,” he said. “We have come a long way this spring to make it a very successful season.”
In the girls double event, BA-B’s first varsity boat was in second place when it got hit by a wake and had to stop; the team’s second entry slipped by for a second-place finish.
Sunday’s hot and sunny race day was good preparation for the crews headed to USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, in June. For the rest of the team, the scrimmage was the last competition of the spring. With COVID-19 strictures in place early on, the big boats never had much time on the water. “I was bummed that we were unable to give our 8s the kind of attention we would have in a regular season,” Hatton said. Still, she added, “They looked really solid.”
Results
Boys
- Boys 1V4+: John Babcock, Ryan Crowley, Matthew Atwell, Clark Hanlon, and coxswain Anjali Vittal; 1st of 2
- Boys 3V4+: Ben Bluth, William Pharo, Noah Stein, Abraham Rahman, and coxswain Nathan Kushner, 3rd of 3
- Boys 1V8+: Brian Borghesani, Ewan Smith, Thomas Keefe, Asher Ryba, John Babcock, Ryan Crowley, Matthew Atwell, Clark Hanlon, and coxswain Anjali Vittal; 1st of 2
- Boys 2V8+: Adam Castriotta, Nikhil Suri, Derek Uhrich, Milo Whitbeck, Charlie Maxwell, Stanley Yuan, Aditya Bhalchandra, William Walling-Sotolongo, and coxswain Lucas Villasenor; 1st of 2
Girls
- Girls 1x: Eliza Straayer, 1st of 2
- Girls 2x: Rachel Walker and Zoe Gendreau-Distler, 2nd of 3; Anya Buchovecky and Courtney Clark, 3rd of 3
- Girls 3V4+: Evelyn Huang, Jadyn Whitney, Regan Donahoe, Norah Greene, and coxswain Audrey Maxwell; 2nd of 2
- Girls 1V8+: Anya Buchovecky, Emma Gresco-Caulfield, Arianna Thornton, Eliza Straayer, Jax Sater, Melanie Bodtman, Sydney Collet-Callahan, Sanjana Rao, and coxswain Sophie Thompson; 1st of 2
- Girls 2V8+: Courtney Clark, Jadyn Whitney, Nosara Maxwell, Sophia Atwell, Norah Greene, Zoe Gendreau-Distler, Alissa Horton, Rachel Walker, and coxswain Amita Kur; 2nd of 2
Jill Maxwell is a BA-B parent.
