Girls' Crew Murks Competition

The girls’ crew team started off the season on a high note, with the first and second boats soaring ahead of the competition and each finishing in first place for their races, beating out six other schools. The third and fourth boats came in second and third place in their races, respectively. Despite the strong winds and difficult starts, the Big Red athletes emerged victorious and put their best foot forward at their first regatta.

"Our first race went really well," varsity crew coach Sally Morris said. "The G1 won by 13.4 seconds and the G2 by 13.2. We were focusing on executing our race plan and training through the day as hard as we could. As you can see by the margin of victory, our coxswains, [upper] Jessica Michaels, G1, and [senior co-captain] Karla Beltran, G2, stayed on course well. The rowers did a great job in both boats."

All four boats struggled with the unfavorable weather, but managed to pull through.

"Conditions were tough with a very strong crossing to crossing-tail wind that made lining up at the starting line a major challenge," Morris said.

"The race was quite short since the windy conditions made it difficult to get seven boats on the starting line, and all crews drifted across," JV crew coach Rebecca Moore said. "Both PEA crews raced well, given the challenging crosswinds."

The athletes were still settling into their boat line-ups when they competed, but the race helped them to bond as boats and find their place on the team.

"This was my first real race because I was on novice last year," upper and first boat rower Jelena Pesa said. "About 500 meters into the race, I knew that we could win, and that gave me the steadiness and strength I needed to keep distancing our boat from the rest."

Every regatta gives the athletes an opportunity to help push their teammates and get them pumped up for the races. The girls are each placed in a "Manus Tria," or band of three, where three of the athletes help psych one other up before each race, writing notes and making gifts.

The rowers and coxswains will continue to grow as a team and build on their talent, beating out Big Red’s competition for the rest of the season.

"This race was a good baseline," Pesa said. "It showed us that we are capable of winning, but also gave us insight on what we need to work on."

"There seems to be a lot of team spirit this year, and I think that is going to help all the boats, as a whole get faster," Michaels said. "There’s a lot of good leadership with the captains. We have a lot of newcomers, but that will make our program faster in the future."