Boys' Crew Starts Off Season Strong at St. John's Invitational

Boys’ crew traveled to Lake Quisigamond on Saturday to race against six other teams: Brookline, St. John’s Prep, Northfield Mount Hermon, Simsbury, Shrewsbury and rival Phillips Andover Academy. First boat dominated the pack, beating the closest boat by six seconds. Second boat lost to Andover and St. John’s Prep in an incredibly close race, in which the top three boats all finished within one-and-a-half seconds of each other. This race marked the first official competition of the season for the team.The racing conditions were horrible, with a strong crosswind that pushed the boats down, making the start challenging for all teams. Boat one pulled ahead at the beginning, however, and managed to build on that lead throughout. “It was really windy and rough, but we dealt with the conditions pretty well,” upper JB Baker said. “We got ahead quickly, and after 30 strokes we were already over a boatlength ahead of the field.”“We had very windy conditions but stayed poised and started the race very strongly,” coach Albert Leger said. “At the halfway mark, we were ahead by open water.”By the end of the race, the teams had spread out even more, with the last three at least 20 seconds behind. Andover took third, finishing 0.3 seconds behind Brookline, but the Big Red boys stayed strong, setting the tone for the rest of the season.“We rowed hard and fast; for a first race, it was a good performance,” senior captain Mark Serbent said.“Despite windy conditions, we rowed a great race,” upper Sam Helms agreed.Boat two struggled to control their shell in the poor conditions and fell behind Andover, but the team put themselves far ahead of the last four boats early on in the race and stayed within a seat or two of Andover, the first-place finisher. St. John’s, behind Big Red for most of the race, caught up in the sprint and beat out the boys by 0.3 seconds. Despite finishing out of first, the boys think they can improve to beat Andover later on in the season.“If we work on our sprint and all around fitness, we can definitely beat Andover at E/a and at NEIRAs,” senior Nick Storozynski said. “We work together well and have bonded easily. Now, we just have to keep getting better. We are in for a righteous season.”Boat one, while also very optimistic about the race, recognizes the work needed to succeed at the championships. “We have a lot of speed and technique work to do to improve upon, but we were definitely the quickest boat at that race because of our weight efficiency,” Baker said.“We rowed well and with power,” Leger said. “It was a great way to start the season, but we still need to gain speed over the next few weeks if we want to achieve our goal of winning the New England Championships on May 25.Boats one and two travel to race St. Paul’s and Kent School at St. Paul’s on Saturday.