May 23, 2024 by J.P. Powers
This weekend, the Hingham High School Crew Team traveled to scenic Hanover, New Hampshire, a stone’s throw away from Dartmouth College and one of the most beautiful locations for a day by the water, to compete against Hanover High School and Tabor Academy. Weather conditions were quite favorable, with overcast skies, warm spring temperatures, very little wind, and a steady moderate current on the Connecticut River.
The day started with the girls third varsity with coxswain Shayla St. Croix, Madeline Kittinger at stroke, Dania Thayer, Tayler Sargent, Bianca Kiley, Elsie Olin, Abrey Fairfield, Emme Beaudoin, and Abrielle Beaudoin in bow seat. After a stop and restart for a popped oarlock ten seconds in, the racing finally got underway. Despite the Hingham boat catching a crab and adjusting on the fly, the race was extremely close for the first half, with the Hingham and Hanover boats jockeying for the lead, well ahead of Tabor. However, in the second half of the race, the excellent conditioning of the Hingham girls began to show as they began to pull away with about 500 meters to go. As the boats neared the finish line, Hingham continued to accelerate, hitting the line a half a boat length ahead of Hanover and a whopping 29 seconds ahead of Tabor, kicking off an exciting day for Hingham Crew.
Girls novice coach and Program Director Pat Houle was impressed with the ability of the girls to recover from an early setback and still find a way to win, “The Hingham girls experienced an equipment malfunction at the beginning of the race, putting them full boat lengths behind the rest of the field. However, once their boat picked up the pace, they were able to sprint through both Tabor and Hanover for one of their best races of the season.”
The second race featured the boys third varsity boat, which has seen a string of success so far this season. With Tyler Bastia at coxswain, Brendan Engel at stroke, Niko Mangili, Lachlan Knies, Oliver McLucas, Owen Cerrato, Zak Robbins, Will Whitrap, and Liam Connelly in bow, the Hingham boat once again dominated their competition, easily outpacing second place Tabor by a 13-second margin and leaving the Hanover entry 16 seconds behind, with more than a boat length and a half of open water between Hingham and its competitors.
Boys head coach Alix Howie described the importance of preparation in the boys’ victory, “This race was a steady walk the whole 1,400 meters. They had a solid clean start and used the remainder of the race to just push away from the field. They did exactly what they set out to do in their pre-race talk.”
By far the most riveting race of the day was the next one, featuring the first varsity boys. The boat of coxswain Jack Levy, stroke Dylan Drew, James Feeley, Sam Ackerman, Walker Bogen, Will Barry, James Barry, Slater Fairfield, and bow seat Josh Bradshaw has already had some of the closest and most entertaining races of the season, but this one might have been the most exciting yet. Knowing that they faced a very strong Hanover boat, the Hingham boys decided on an intelligent and tactical approach. For the first half of the race, the Hingham boys grabbed a quick lead before settling into a strong, consistent pace, keeping around half a boat length behind Hanover and battling back and forth, where they could eventually make their move. With about 500 meters to go, Hingham sensed their moment and dropped the hammer. The boat surged forward and began easily outpacing Hanover, as the boys clawed into the lead with every stroke. As the two boats approached the line, it was anybody’s race. As the boats crossed, Hingham’s bow hit the line just 0.7 seconds behind the Hanover boat. If the race had been a mere 200 feet longer, the Hingham boys would almost certainly have secured the win. As it is, the crowd was treated to one of the best examples of racing tactics on the season. The Tabor entry crossed the line about 12 seconds behind.
Captain James Feeley, ‘24 described the intense battle between the boats, “We were super excited to race Hanover and Tabor this week; we knew that it would be a great race. It was down to the wire with the race being neck and neck for the majority.” Boys head coach Alix Howie says that the Hingham boat has gained speed all season, “I think this race was a great test heading into championships. We have a tough week ahead, but they are excited and motivated and ready to race!”
In the next race, the girls first varsity with Grace Ji at coxswain, Maeve Schnorr at stroke, Maisie Knies, Sophie Kerr, Thea Migliaccio, Ava Sugrue, Natalie Shaw, Marissa Matthews, and bow seat Lynnayah Ryan put together an incredible effort. The girls got off to a strong start and quickly put Tabor behind them. They then gave Hanover everything they had and pushed them all the way to the line, but just weren’t quite able to close with them at the end, finishing about seven seconds back for second place.
Next up, the boys second varsity with coxswain Lucas Mangili, stroke Owen Franklin, Trevor Steiner, Will Cassidy, Arlo Maxwell, Hanley Stroka, Alex Doggett, Jack Burns, and bow seat Cullen Moriarty used the middle of the race to put some distance between themselves and their two competitors. With a comfortable lead, the Hingham boys brought home another convincing win, sweeping to victory by a solid 5 seconds ahead of second place Hanover and securing another victory in what is shaping up to be a memorable season.
Coach Howie sees this victory as the result of a lot of teamwork from the boys, “This boat has really come together this season and this race was a great culmination of the regular season. They gained off the start, pulled away, and held their lead the remainder of the race. It was beautiful to watch them finish, celebrating and splashing the water and waving and congratulating the other crews.”
The Hingham girls second varsity, which has continued to improve each week, finally broke out in a huge way this weekend. Coxswain Jane Betti, stroke seat Sophia Santarelli, Genevieve Vale, Louisa Orth, Isabelle Wagner, Eliza Powers, Nina Murphy, Lydia D’Arcy, and bow seat Maddie Owens, who have been achingly close to a win for the past several weeks, finally decided that enough was enough. Perhaps inspired by birthday girl Maddy Owens, Hingham exploded off the mark, quickly grabbing a big lead and continuing to accelerate down the course, leaving the Hanover and Tabor boats well behind. In the end, the girls hit the finish line a full 22 seconds ahead of second place Hanover and a whopping 39 seconds ahead of Tabor, finally showing the dominant form that they’ve been threatening all season. With NEIRAs and MPSRAs looming next week, the girls picked a great time to finally find their winning stroke.
Coach Pat Houle noted the girls’ improvements will help them this coming weekend, “Hingham’s second varsity girls boat is building momentum going into the state championships and the New England championships as they pushed ahead of the field by over 20 seconds against a fast Hanover and Tabor crew.”
The next race featured the girls fourth varsity, which has been in the middle of a tremendous run this season. With coxswain Emily Gu, stroke Rose Lovendale, Shauna Arseneau, Elsie Olin, Hayley Kost, Lauren Newth, Stella Gutierrez, Anne Kyriss, and bow Annie Sargent, the Hingham girls got off to a solid start and battled Hanover hard throughout the course, leaving Tabor far behind. While the Hingham girls hung tough and refused to quit, the very talented Hanover boat pushed into a lead about halfway through the race and doggedly held on as Hingham tried to chase them down. In the end, Hanover managed to cross the line ahead of Hingham, who still managed to outpace the Tabor entry by several boat lengths.
Next up, the Hingham boys fourth varsity, which has also found great success this season, again ran into some stiff competition in Hanover. Coxswain Owen Weinstein, stroke Ryan Kost, Owen Lefort, Brian Magner, Ryan Potter, Aqueel Bharmal, Euan Chesney-Douglas, Jack O’Leary, and bow seat Brent Strauss worked extremely hard all race and managed to fight past Tabor, but could not quite catch the very strong Hanover side. In the end, the boys finished just behind Hanover, but pulled through against a very disciplined Tabor side and showed a lot of fight.
The girls sixth varsity, featuring some of Hingham’s most promising young athletes, once again showed both speed and power as coxswain Sophia Peregrine, stroke Veronica Webb, Peyton Burke, June Rogan, Tag Tomlinson, Tilly Kenny, Eme Bias, Kalianna Stockbridge, and bow seat Ashley Sinkus combined to overwhelm Hanover. After a strong start, both boats remained within striking distance of each other. Around the halfway mark, Hingham increased their stroke rate and began to open up a lead, eventually blowing past Hanover and crossing the line more than two boat lengths ahead.
The boys novice boat, having shown incredible progress over the course of the season, once again impressed onlookers as coxswain Henry Hoch, stroke Michael Catalfano, Noah Rawoof, Aedan Sullivan, Gerard Bottini, Liam Govoni, Myles Figueroa, Luca Arienti, and bow seat Seph Darlington got off the line well and built a solid lead. As they passed the midpoint, the boys continued to increase their lead, leaving the Hanover boat in their wake. By the finish, the Hingham boys crossed the line with half a boat length of water between themselves and the Hanover entry.
Boys novice coach Abi Kornet sees consistent improvement from the boys, “They’ve had a great season so far. With each race, they’ve become more confident in their ability and what they can achieve as a team – while still remaining humble and committed to getting better with each stroke. Hanover was a testament to that commitment.”
Coach Howie attributes the continued improvements and successes of the boys team to the diligence and effort they have brought to their training, “This team has worked so hard this season, from morning practices, to double sessions, to some truly grueling erg workouts and circuits. They have pushed through everything and come out as stronger athletes and a stronger team. They are a team that takes care of business and I am very proud of how far they have come. I cannot wait to see everyone race this weekend.”
The final race of the day featured the girls fifth varsity with coxswain Emily Gu, stroke Rose Lovendale, Ginger Neihoff, Lauren Newth, Eva O’Sullivan, Lexi Messina, Stella Gutierrez, Anne Kyriss, and bow seat Celia McCarthy. With half of the rowers on the boat “hot seating” and racing in their second heats of the day, they still managed to put up an incredible fight. For the first half of the race, the Hingham girls hung tough and worked as a solid team with a strong pace and powerful stroke. However, in the second half of the race, it was clear that the Hingham girls were showing some of the effects of having rowed back-to-back races. Hanover managed a lead that the Hingham girls simply could not overcome as they still managed to push hard all the way through the finish.
Next weekend, the Hingham Crew Team closes out its racing season with a double-header at the NEIRAs in Worcester on Saturday May 25th and the MPSRAs in Lowell on Sunday May 26th, followed by the season-ending banquet on Wednesday, May 29th.