Wayland-Weston Girls' Crew Medals at Home Regatta

This article was written by Hannah Brigham.

The Wayland-Weston Rowing Association hosted the annual Wayland-Weston Invitational Regatta at Lake Cochituate Sunday, May 6. The event provided both a fun and competitive experience for the Wayland-Weston athletes, their competitors, families, and friends.

Wayland-Weston invited eight other competitive crews to the regatta. All other crews at the regatta were either private school teams or club teams, including Belmont Hill School, Brooks School, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Community Rowing, Inc., Deerfield Academy, Groton, Noble & Greenough and Winsor. Each squad brought their five best fours (boats of four rowers and a coxswain) to fight for the gold on the 1,500-meter course. 

On the crisp Sunday morning the nine squads raced in heats of four boats, where the top two qualified for the grand finals. Despite the tough competition the private schools and clubs presented, the Wayland-Weston girls raced well. The squad qualified four of five boats for the grand finals, taking three firsts, one second, and a forth place in the heats. 

By 1 p.m., the sun was shinning and the top crews competed again in the grand finals, vying for the gold. Starting the afternoon of racing off strong was the girls’ 5V (cox: Paris Alizadeh-Shabdez, stroke: Kyle Robb, Sarah Perry, Caroline Peters, Elaine Hunt). The Wayland-Weston girls’ 5V not only rowed a technically sound and powerful race, but also beat the three other teams’ boats, claiming the gold. 

Following the girls’ 5V boats was the 4V race. As the Wayland-Weston girls’ 4V (cox: Michelle Sheffers, stroke: Emma Conroy, Sophia Haley, Madison Kiefer, Rachel Yan) approached the finish line they were neck and neck with one of the opposing crews, tied for third. After both crews sprinted across the finish line, fighting for the bronze medal, the opposing crew slid across less then half a second before the Wayland-Weston boat. 

As the afternoon progressed the 3V crew (cox: Kate Silberberg, stroke: Kira Palmer, Pippa Edwards, Emily Huber, Sam Kolovson) and 2V crew (cox: Caroline Ayanian, stroke: Elena Drews, Rebecca Harris, Gabriela Purman, Hannah Brigham) grand final races both ended with medals for the Wayland Weston girls. In their races the two W-W crews left everything out on the 1,500-meter course and walked away with silver medals as a result, losing only to the crews from Groton.

The final race of the day was between the 1V boats. First was the petite final, in which the four boats that placed third and forth in their heats, race against each other. The petite final was followed by the grand final. Although the Wayland Weston Girls 1V (cox: Georgia Parker, stroke: Antonia Vitagliano, Emily Phaneuf, Lizzie Becker, Clare Keller) did not qualify for the grand final, they still had the opportunity to compete in the petite final. The 1V performed solidly, receiving second place in the petite final and sixth place overall. 

In addition to the invitational, which only varsity squads competed in, the Wayland Weston novice squad traveled to Lowell to compete in the Novice Challenge on Saturday. The novice girls’ made an impressive showing of their abilities, taking home first place in the eight (cox: Julia Carr stroke: Audrey Zizza, Sophia Young, Charlotte Smith, Hannah Knight, Mia Shaver, Julia Mitrano, Mia Senechal, Kyra Spaulding) and forth in the four (cox: Kristen Shytle stroke: Lauren Shin, Carrie Coote, Katie Court, Jackie McInerney).  

After all the boats had been loaded onto trailers, the awards ceremony was held to give medals to the top three boats in each event. The Wayland-Weston girls took home three medals, one gold and two silver medals. The Wayland-Weston girls’ crew raced hard throughout the day, defending their home lake.