By Allen Nitschelm
The Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough Rowing Team excelled at the Lowell Invitational Regatta held on the Merrimac River in Lowell last weekend. The event drew over 500 crews from most New England states and included both public school teams and private clubs. The Bare Hill Rowing Association sponsors the Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough high school rowers. About 90 student athletes in grades 8 through 12 from the towns of Harvard, Acton, and Boxborough are training and competing during the spring 2014 season.
As many as 20 teams were entered in each event at the popular regatta, which held time trial qualifying heats over the 2,000-meter course on Saturday. The top six times qualified to compete head to head across six lanes in the Finals and crews placing 7th through 12th advanced to the Petite Finals, both held on Sunday.
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Sunday had 32 Final races and 10 Petite Finals with Bromfield fielding boats in 15 races. The team won three gold medals, including the Girl's Varsity Lightweight Four and the Boy’s First Varsity Four as well as the Girl's Freshmen Four. Bromfield crews placed second overall in three races, third overall in four, and fourth through seventh in four races.
Four girls from the varsity team racing in the lightweight division (weighing under 130 pounds) powered their way to first place, covering the 2,000 meters in7:04.19. The team is comprised of Meghan Glade and Sylvia Sarnik of Harvard, along with Courtney Oka of Boxborough, Anna Dawley of Acton, with Amanda Sundheimer of Harvard as coxswain. The crew hopes to travel to the nationals this year, the qualifier for which is next weekend in Lowell at the New England Regional Regatta.
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In a show of strength and synchronicity, the Varsity Boy’s Four earned the gold medal covering the distance in 5:37.57, seven seconds faster than their nearest competitor, Riverfront Rowing of Hartford, CT. The all Acton-Boxborough crew of Liam Mackin, Charles Watt, A.J. Higgins, Kyle Hayes and Coxswain Anya Plucinsky also has its sights set on a trip to the nationals this season.
The 2nd Varsity Boy’s Four placed second, only three seconds out of first place in their final race. Rowers were Justin Hayes, Andrew Borghesani, Benjamin Jackson, and Luca Basile, with Kyle Veo as coxswain.
The 1st Boy’s Eight in both varsity and novice categories won their Petite Final heats, earning them overall 7th place finishes in the entire field.
The third gold medal winning boat was the Freshmen Novice Girls Four. All five of the novice girls’ boats moved into the finals from their Saturday races. On Sunday, the 1st Novice Girl’s Eight placed second out of 17 boats, with a time of 6:59:97, just two seconds off the winning pace. The 2nd Novice Girl’s Four also placed second and the 2nd Novice Girl’s Eight placed third in their event. The 1st Novice Girl’s Four placed 6th overall.
Molly Hart was the only female entry from the team in the single sculls event competing in the finals, in which each rower pulls two oars. She placed third in her race out of 14 overall. Hart will be also racing to qualify for nationals next weekend.
The 1st Girl’s Varsity Eight placed 5th overall in a very competitive field of 19 boats. The crew showed significant improvement from the last large regatta in Saratoga, New York, placing ahead of three crews that bested them at that regatta. Rowers were Courtney Oka, Kirsten Thiim, Molly Hart, Panna Rasania, Ally Goldsher, Annie Cooper, Anna Dawley, and Sylvia Sarnik, with Coxswain Emily Erdos.
The 2nd Varsity Women Eight had Meghan Glade, Emily Mitchell, Olivia Stoffel, Maddie Van Dorpe, Maeve French, Grace Ott, Michelle Ginouves, and Emma Stoffel as rowers, with Amanda Sundheimer as cox and Hannah Forgo placed third in the Final heat in a time of 7:06.17.
The 2nd Varsity Girl’s Four placed third in a time of 7:18.41, with Emma Stoffel, Michelle Ginouves, Ally Goldsher, and Annie Cooper as rowers and Katie Erdos at the helm.
Both Boy’s and Girl’s Varsity teams will be competing this weekend in Lowell and at the State Championships the following weekend, also in Lowell. The group's final event of the season is the First Annual Ergathon, to be held on Harvard's Town Common on May 31st. This is a fundraiser to raise money towards the purchase of boats and other equipment. For further information or to make a donation, visit www.barehillrowing.com/ergathon.
