Anacostia Regatta Report: Men's Varsity Crew Team Wins Trophy!
Anacostia Regatta
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Among the many highlights during Saturday's first crew regatta of the season were two first place finishes that bookended a terrific day of racing. First was the Men's Varsity Eight's spectacular first place finish against Gonzaga and DeMatha. Always a tough competitor, Gonzaga kicked in with a fast sprint in the final 300 meters of the race—but it wasn't enough. The B-CC boat held tight to their lead, finishing ahead by 8.53 seconds. Fans and team members gathered on the Anacostia riverbank erupted in cheers! In this powerful boat, winning back from Gonzaga the trophy at stake in this race were: Matt Speck, 11th (cox); Erik Holmvik, 10th(stroke); Michael Colella, 11th; Harry Holroyd, 12th; Sam Weiner, 11th; Matt Dutko, 11th; Greg Mariuzza, 12th; Nick van der Vink, 12th; and Sam Murphy, 11th.
The Women's Varsity Team rowed extremely well against a strong and very experienced Georgetown Visitation team in three dual races, finishing second each time. In the first Eight, finishing fewer than 4 seconds behind Visitation were: Coxswain Zena Wolf (11th), Stroke Katie Sampson (10th), Lizzie Hook, (10th) Sophia Arend (10th), Amanda Litty (12th), Abby McIntosh (10th), Charlotte Myers (10th), Naomi Balodemas (11th), and Rachel Brocker (10th).
Facing very tough competition, the Men's Varsity 2nd Eight rowed well but wasn't able to pull ahead of Gonzaga and DeMatha. In this boat were Will Smith (cox), Rohan Mittal (stroke), Nate Hodge, Shray Mittal, Fred Johnson, Ian Weaver, Joaquin Rodriguez, Alex Loomis, and Alex Lallas.
In another close race, coming in 7 seconds behind Visitation, was the Women's Varsity 2nd Eight: Maddy Turner (cox), Margaux Carle (stroke), Emma Dauster, Tamsin Bradbury, Sabina Gudmundsson, Rea Marmarinou, Gyl Weisenfeld, Taylor Joseph, and Kate LaFranchi.
Among the sophomores in the Women's Varsity 3rd Eight were two freshmen, rowing their first race ever: Kate Lester (cox), Gena Bunker (stroke), India Scribner, Molly Gibson (9th), Naomi Smith, Jacqueline Whitford, Sarah Katsnelson, McKenzie Zellner (9th) and Katherine Smith.
The Varsity Men's team also fielded three boats in the fours races. In an extremely tight and exciting finish, the 1st Varsity Four (Matt Speck, cox, Erik Holmvik, stroke, Michael Colella, Harry Holroyd & Sam Weiner) pulled ahead of DeMatha, but was unable to pass Gonzaga in the end, finishing 2nd. The 2nd Varsity Four (Will Smith, cox, Rohan Mittal, stroke, Nate Hodge, Shray Mittal, and Sam Murphy) came in fewer than 10 seconds behind Gonzaga, finishing 3rd. The 3rd Varsity Four (Caelan Collins, cox, Alex Loomis, stroke, Fred Johnson, Matt Whitstock, and Joaquin Rodriguez) had a fantastic race, moving through Gonzaga in the final 300 meters to finish second behind DeMatha.
The Freshmen Men were elated after their strong finish in their first race ever. In the largest field of competitors of the day, racing against three Gonzaga boats and one DeMatha boat, the Barons placed third, ahead of Gonzaga's 3rd boat as well as DeMatha. In this boat were Nico Judge (cox), Mitchell Broadwater (stroke), Nolan Petty, Matt Baer, Mishel Kisi, Aidan LaPierre, Oliver Jenkins, Srikanta Mehta, and Peter Murphy.
In the last race of the day, the Women's Freshmen/Novice 8, racing their very first race ever, beat the Georgetown Visitation boat by open water! Congratulations to Julia Maslin (cox), Lexi Theiss, 10th (stroke), Vivian Vazquez, Molly Gibson, McKenzie Zellner, Jessica Smith, Stephanie Arsenault, Natalie Rogers, and Desiree Dinh.
Finally, and most importantly, on a day that began with ominous skies and cold temperatures, 60 rowers, 10 coxswains, 7 coaches and dozens of parents gathered to celebrate and cheer a terrific start to the 2011 season. Clouds gave way to some sunshine. Races were won. Races were lost. But spirits never lagged. Many thanks go to coaches Dan Engler, Hank McEntee, Jessica Swartz, Megan Gordon, Laura Thornhill, Tom Schryver, and Chris Graves.