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Sports

Wayland-Weston Crew Shine at Nationals

The Wayland-Weston crew team performed well at the Youth National Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

One year ago the Wayland-Weston crew team sent two boats to the Youth National Championship Regatta.  The team doubled that count this year, qualifying four boats to make the trip.

This year’s event was held on June 7-9 on Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. To qualify for the event, crews had to finish in the top three spots at their regional regattas.  At the Northeast District Championship Regatta on May 18 and 19, the W-W boys qualified a lightweight eight and the girls qualified a lightweight eight, an open four and an open pair.

W-W girls’ coach Boris Kusturic and boys’ coach Brian DeDominici brought their crews to the National Championship Regatta to compete with 1585 competitors from 152 teams.  They knew that had prepared their athletes well and were ready to meet the competition.

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The girls’ lightweight eight finished fourth last year at Nationals and they told Coach Kusturic that they wanted to make it back to the National stage this year and win a medal.  The W-W lightweight crew of Caroline Ayanian (coxswain), Audrey Zizza (stroke), Sophia Haley, Gabriella Purman, Hannah Brigham, Emma Conroy, Carrie Coote, Jacqueline McInerney and Rachel Yan earned a spot at Nationals by finishing first at the District championships.  They also won their preliminary and semifinal races at Nationals.  Their semifinal win qualified them for the grand final, where the top six boats competed for the National championship. 

For much of the 2000 meter race the W-W lightweight eight girls battled with Los Gatos, from San Jose, California, for third place.  But, with 250 meters to go, they began to pull away from Los Gatos.  PNRA/Mercer of Princeton, New Jersey, was almost a half a boat length ahead of them in second place.  The W-W girls knew they were gaining on the PNRA/Mercer boat and picked up the pace.  Giving everything they had, they were able to catch and pass the PNRA/Mercer boat just before the finish line, taking second place and claiming the silver medal by a little over a half second.

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The boys’ lightweight eight crew of Carly Skehan (coxswain), Jared Lorusso (stroke), Dan Spellman, Ian DeLaney, Alden Harwood, Alan Blaesser, Alex Keane, Alex Bierman and Theo Hieronymus fought their way through the preliminary rounds to the B finals.  The W-W boys battled to a close fourth in their final race, finishing tenth in the country. 

The W-W girls’ four, coxed by Pardis Alizadeh-Shabdiz, stroked by Emily Huber, with Emily Phaneuf, Charlotte Smith and Hannah Knight, advanced through the preliminary rounds to the C final. On Sunday, in their final race, they rowed very strong, pulling away from the field to win the race and finish eleventh in the nation.

The W-W girls’ pair, rowed by Kira Palmer in stroke and Pippa Edwards in bow, had only been rowing together as a pair for a few weeks.  The pair is a difficult boat to row and takes exceptional teamwork.  Palmer and Edwards were not just able to control the boat; they rowed well enough to earn a spot at Nationals.  And at the National Championships they continued to display their expertise, advancing to the C finals in a packed field.  They rowed to a second place finish in the C final, only one second behind the first place boat, to finish fourteenth in the country.

For the underclassmen it was an experience that will motivate them to be even better rowers for the Wayland-Weston crew team next year.  For the seniors, most of which will continue rowing in college, this was a great way to end their high school rowing careers.  For all of the rowers, this was an experience they will never forget.  They represented their team, their schools and their home towns of Wayland and Weston very well. 

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