Wayland-Weston Crew Wins State Championship

The Wayland-Weston Crew team travelled to Lowell on Sunday, May 27 to compete in the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association (MPSRA) Spring State Championships. On a beautiful day for rowers and spectators, high school teams from around the state competed on the Merrimack River for the state title.

And it was a beautiful day in another way for Wayland-Weston crew. The team successfully defended its title, winning its seventh straight spring state championship.

The overall State Championship title combines the scores of the boys’ and girls’ teams and went to the Wayland-Weston crew. The boys’ squad came up short in its division for the first time in seven years, finishing a very close fourth place and only three points behind second place finisher Hingham. The girls were able to continue their winning tradition, capturing their seventh title in as many years.

Girls’ head coach Borislav Kusturic was pleased with the effort of his team. 

“Every member of the team contributed to the team winning MPSRA Championships yesterday," Kusturic said. "All 28 rowers and five coxswains made it possible to achieve this."

Wayland-Weston’s first varsity eight finished second, just four seconds behind Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough. Rowing for the first varsity eight were coxswain Caroline Ayanian and stroke Gabriela Purman, Rebecca Harris, Antonia Vitagliano, Emily Phaneuf, Lizzie Becker, Claire Keller, Elena Drews and Hannah Brigham.  

Wayland-Weston’s second varsity eight captured a gold medal. The crew of coxswain Georgia Parker and stroke Kira Palmer, Sophia Haley, Madison Kiefer, Sam Kolovson, Emily Huber, Pippa Edwards, Emma Conroy and Rachel Yen rowed a strong race to victory.

The third varsity eight from Wayland-Weston finished second in its race, earning a silver medal and adding valuable points to the team’s total. Rowing in this boat were coxswain Michelle Sheffres and stroke Wendy Dong, Meridith Galang, Rachel Schneider, Briana Mele, Caroline Kaye, Joanna Duffy, Sarah Kaye and Hannah Smith.

In the race of first varsity fours, Wayland-Weston finished fifth. In this boat were coxswain Kate Silverberg and stroke Kyle Robb, Sarah Perry, Elaine Hunt and Caroline Peters.

The Wayland-Weston novice eight squad (cox: Julia Carr and stroke Audrey Zizza, Sohpia Young, Charlotte Smith, Hannah Knight, Mia Shaver, Kyra Spaulding, Jackie McInerney, Carrie Coote) rowed a strong race, winning a silver medal. In a close race, the novice girls finished just more than a second behind rival Bromfield-Acton-Boxborough. 

The season is not over for one of the Wayland-Weston girls’ crews. With their victory at the Northeast District Championships in Worcester last week, the lightweight eight crew of coxswain Ayanian, stroke Drews, Haley, Purman,  Harris, Kiefer, Brigham, Conroy and Yan qualified for Nationals.

The lightweight eight crew will be heading to the  U.S. Youth National Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. in two weeks. The Wayland-Weston boys’ team will also send a lightweight four crew to the national regatta.

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