Crew Sweeps Neria Golds

Boys’ varsity crew finished off an incredible season with a B1 first place finish at NEIRA’s. The team did well throughout the season, only losing once by .06 seconds to Tabor, who they went on to decimate in the finals. Boat two had a decent 3-6 season, but unfortunately lost at the championships. Big Red’s second boat had the third best overall time at the NEIRA’s qualifying heats, but took third place in their heat, and, due to a technicality, did not make the championship round. “The season went really well for all boats,” upper co-captain-elect Julian Drury said. “The team’s hard work resulted in boat one’s victory at NEIRAs and although boat two didn’t make the final, the time we got would have still won us a silver medal in the championship heat.”"The end of the season was especially meaningful, when the captains presented Principal Hassan with the trophy. It was the first time since 2008 they were able to go up there with a championship trophy instead of a bronze,” upper JB Baker said.For second boat, although they weren’t able to compete in the championship race, the boys were reconciled by the fact that their preliminary heat time would have captured second place.Despite the disappointing end, the boys felt that the season as a whole was a success. “Boys crew had a great season, cul- minating with the B1 win at the New England Championships on May,” head coach Albert

Leger said. “B2 had a strong season, pushing the competition in all races and gaining speed all year.”“After two straight years of bronze and a few years of not even making the medal dock, it was great to nally win gold again,” upper co-captain-elect Sam Helms said.The season started off well for both boat one and boat two, who took rst and third, respectively, at the St. John’s Prep regatta. The previous year the first boat had won the same regatta and yet took third place at New England’s later in the season. “We were excited about the win for boat one and the potential both boats one and two had, but we also understood that last years team would need to be an example of how we didn’t want the season to end,” Baker said.The next race at St. Paul’s School was against Kent and St. Paul’s, both crews that are typically competitive. Both Big Red crews beat them handily, however, and continued their winning ways against Hanover the next week, defeating the Hanover teams by 14 sec- onds for boat one and 21 seconds for boat two.Both boats had a decent outing at Phillips Andover Academy’s home course following the Hanover victory. Boat one took second, losing to Tabor, and boat two took second as well, losing to rival Andover. The team man- aged to bounce back in their test race for New Englands, with rst boat beating St. Paul’s again, this time by 17 seconds.The championships were held on May 25th on a wet and unseasonably cold day. The Big Red rst boat was seeded second but

had a poor race during the heats, picking up the sixth, and last, qualifying time. In the race that mattered, however, the boys dominated. “Our start sequence was substantially better than any start we had had earlier in the season,” senior captain Mark Serbent said. “After that we knew we were going to win.”The race finished with Exeter ahead of the pack by 3.6 seconds with a time of 4:16.98, the second fastest time ever in the finals. The win was over the other seventeen best rowing schools in New England, including rival Andover, who took 6th, ten seconds behind Exeter.Boat two, who had gained speed and strength all throughout the season, drew a tough matchup in the first round, facing off against BC High School and St. Paul’s. The race ended in a photo finish, literally. With the time separating the top three boats less than .3 seconds, the winners were decided by the photo taken at the end of the race.The team was characterized by not only the in- dividuals’ natural talent and strength, but by the way they came together as a group and worked for the success of the team, not as individuals.“A key part to the season was the competitiveness and intensity of our practices,” Drury said. “Each boat challenged the boat above it to work harder every single week. The coaches also pushed us every day.”“Assistant coach Marshall Moore helped tremen- dously all season long and was a big part of our suc- cess. Coach Tyler Caldwell worked with this boat all season, improving their technique and making them one of the fastest B2V in the northeast,” Leger said, who was the mastermind behind the training program that got the boys ready for NEIRAs.Senior Max Drach was recognized by his team- mates and coaches as being a great influence on the team. A four-year varsity rower, Drach was honored with the Lyster Award, given each year to the rower with the best attitude and enthusiasm for the sport. “On top of being an incredible rower, Max was excited every day to row and it added something to the boathouse,” Baker said.

Drury was also a leader, especially for the second boat throughout the season. “After being a de facto leader of boat two during the season, Julian stepped up and helped the boys handle their heartbreaking loss,” Serbent said.Captains Andrew Rondeau and Mark Serbent led by example. On the water they were two of the strongest rowers, and off the water they made sure that the boys were enjoying themselves throughout the season. “The captains definitely helped the team grow over the course of the season,” Drury said.The captains also had a lot of help from the other seniors on the boats. For both boat one and, coxswain Marlow Mizer, Finn Meeks, Conrad Homm, Chan- ning Prend, Nick Storozynski and Blake Bowman, in addition to Serbent, Rondeau and Drach, not only contributed talent and hard work, but helped the younger rowers on boat one get ready to race in the championships, which were for many the biggest race of their lives. Meeks also won the Swift award, given to the MVP of the crew team as voted by the team, for his incredible talent and weight efficiency.“I would contribute a lot of our success on first boat to the great racing experience of the five seniors we had,” Helms said.Although the team is graduating nine seniors, the younger rowers are more than ready to step up to the challenge, lead by captains Helms and Drury, two year first boat rower Baker and second boat coxswain Nikhil Chuchra. “JB and I put in a lot of work last off-season, which we will do again,” Helms said. “Lower Benj Cohen, who contributed some world- class erg times and a lot of strength this year, will only continue to get better.”“We are holding onto a bunch of varsity rowers, so I have confidence that our boat will be very fast as well as very light,” Drury said.“We have the potential to be an even better team next year,” Baker said, “but we all know that to be the best, you have to train like you are the best, so it’s going to take some work. I am excited.”