Wayland-Weston Crew Heads To National Championships

The Wayland-Weston crew team is off to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to row in the Youth National Championship Regatta.

The regatta hosts the best teams from across the country. The preliminary races start on Friday, June 7 and racing continues through the weekend with finals on Sunday. 

The W-W team qualified four boats to race at Nationals. To qualify, the boats had to finish in the top three positions at the Northeast District Championships, which were held on May 18 and 19 on the Merrimack River in Lowell.  

The W-W girls qualified a lightweight eight, an open four and an open pair. The W-W boys qualified a lightweight eight.

The girls’ lightweight eight is coxed by Caroline Ayanian and stroked by Audrey Zizza.  Sophia Haley, Gabriela Purman, Hannah Brigham, Emma Conroy, Carrie Cote, Jackie McInerney and Rachel Yan are also on the boat. This is the second trip to Nationals for most of these girls.

Last year the W-W lightweight eight finished fourth and this year they are hoping to get on the medal stand. They won their race at the Northeast District Championships and look to be a strong contender for the National title.

On the girls’ open four are coxswain Pardis Alizadeh-Shabdiz, stroke Emily Huber, Emily Phaneuf, Charlotte Smith and Hannah Knight. The girls’ open pair is rowed by Pippa Edwards and Kira Palmer. Both of these crews had strong performances at the District championships, finishing third, winning bronze medals and earning a spot at Nationals.

The boys’ lightweight eight is coxed by Carly Skeehan. Rowing this boat are Jared Larouso, Alden Harwood, Ian Delany, Dan Spellman, Allen Blasser, Alex Keane, Alex Bierman and Theodore Hieronymus. The W-W boys finished second at the District regatta, behind Community Rowing (CRI) and ahead of Saugatuck. 

In addition to their success at the Northeast District Championships, the W-W crew team also did well at the MPSRA State Championship Regatta, which was also held on the Merrimack River in Lowell on Sunday, May 26. The conditions were challenging, with cold temperatures, high winds and a swift current.  But the Wayland-Weston crews put in a solid effort. The W-W girls finished first and the boys finished third. 

This was the eighth consecutive State championship for the W-W girls. The first and third varsity eights each earned silver medals and the second varsity eight took gold. W-W girls’ coach Boris Kusturic decided to keep the lightweight eight together and entered the lightweight eight crew in the second varsity eight race. In a demonstration of strength and speed, the W-W lightweight eight dominated the field, winning by a wide margin over the open-weight boats and bringing home a gold medal. 

One additional varsity girls’ boat scored points for the State champions. The first varsity four finished in fifth place. 

Wayland-Weston’s novice girls also contributed to the victory. Showing great promise for the coming years, both the first novice eight and the second novice eight earned gold medals in impressive style. The first novice crew won by eight seconds and the second novice eight won their race by an even wider margin, crossing the line thirteen seconds ahead of their closest competitor. 

All three W-W boys’ varsity eights also medaled at the MPSRA State Championship Regatta, with each boat winning bronze medals. 

The novice boys’ crews had some challenges thrown their way, but still managed good finishes. The first novice eight had to restart their race after the officials stopped their race when Bromfield collided with the Wayland-Weston boat and they won their race after the restart. But the regatta officials decided to rerun the race. In the second running of the race, the W-W first novice eight finished fourth. 

The second novice eight had an even tougher challenge. An official’s boat collided with them, ripping the bow off their boat and forcing them to miss their race. They were allowed to race in a different boat in the first novice race, finishing sixth. 

Capping off their season with a trip to the Youth National Championship Regatta, the W-W crew team is optimistic about their chances in Tennessee.  They have worked hard for this opportunity and now are looking for that hard work to pay off. 

The Live streaming video of the Youth National Championship Regatta is available, starting Saturday with semifinals at 3 p.m. at http://www.youtube.com/user/usrowingorg