HHS Crew Team Hosts the First Annual Salty Bow Sprints

May 14, 2021, Submitted by Holly Moriarty

Rowers Compete Against Duxbury and Greater Lawrence Rowing in Highly Competitive, Down-to-the-Finish Races.

The Hingham High School Crew team brought lots of excitement to Bare Cove Park this past weekend with the first-ever “Salty Bow Sprints.” HHS hosted Duxbury High School for a gorgeous sunny and windy Mother’s Day event. After a dozen tight races—many boats crossing the finish line just a few seconds apart—Duxbury took home the first annual Salty Bow Sprints Trophy.

From buoys to bullhorns, HHS coaches Marika Kopp, Pat Houle, Hayes Shea, and Sue Chapin for the girls team, and John O’Neill, Austin Letorney, Jack Murphy, and Olivia Vita for the boys team, put on an exceptionally successful event drawing a large crowd of Hingham and Duxbury fans along the banks of the Back River.

Duxbury High School Crew coach, Oli Rosenblandt commented, “This will become the best course for rowing on the South Shore. We will do this every year!”

All of the eight-boats (eight rowers and a coxswain) competed in 1,400 meter races. The third and fourth varsity and novice boats experienced light crosswinds from the portside that picked up in the afternoon for the first and second varsity boats, who also encountered heavier crosswinds and slight chop on the water.

The day was also remarkable for the extremely close finishes. HHS’s boys first varsity boat (V-1) lost by just one boat length to Duxbury, while the rest of the boys’ races were just as tight. Duxbury won the boys V-2 race by three seconds, by six seconds (or about half boat length) for both the V-3 and V-4 races, and one boat length in the novice (first year rowers) race.

“Every week we have been showing up and checking one thing off our list of areas we can improve,” said boys Head Coach John O’Neill. “If we continue to check things off our list, we can only get faster.”

The girls teams also competed in highly competitive races. HHS’s girls V-1 boat won by two seconds. Hingham’s girls V-3 and novice boats each crossed the finish line just four seconds ahead of Duxbury. Duxbury won the girls V-2 race, while Hingham won the girls V-4 line-up.

The novice boys and girls mixed up it up and rowed in boats together for two of the races. Hingham rowers and coxswains who competed in the Salty Bow Sprints included:

Boys V-1: Eric Smith (coxswain), Jack Magner, Tasman Claridge, John Rogan, Joey DeCola, Luke Turnak, Keegan Mahon, Theo Grossman, and Leo Williams.  

Girls V-1: Allison Tocchio (coxswain), Charlotte Bogen, Kate Gallagher, Lilly Bryant, Anna Wagner, Olivia Wegener, Teagan Schnorr, Cassandra Dasco, and Claire Gallagher.

Boys V-2: Mike Wegener (coxswain), Cam Santarelli, Fin Perkins, Ned McDonald, Will D’Arcy, Jake Moraites, Oskar Scholund, Brennan Beitler, and Dan Salon.

Girls V-2: Ellie Zieper (coxswain), Lily Murphy, Devon Moriarty, Helena Orth, Ella Niehoff, Anna Capodilupo, Zoe Angel, Kathryn Feeley, and Sofia Scholund.

Boys V-3: Jimbo Dietterich (coxswain), Gabe Wagner, Nick Germain, Nathan Tesler, Logan Littell, Joe Delmonico, A.J. Rubel, Walker Shetty, and Mike Magner.

Girls V-3: Maddie McPhillips (coxswain), Sadie Neidecker, Abby Brown, Grace Desai, Elena Vasilakos, Elena Bryden, Ellie Dodd, Bayan Traiba, and Mazie Neidecker.

Boys V-4: Mike Wegener (coxswain), James Donnelly, Adam Quinn, Colin Menuchi, Alex Hart, Charlie Rogan, Jake Robbins, Joe Cassidy, and Jack Burns.

Girls V-4: Alexa Fox (coxswain), Sophie Kerr, Julia Lopes, Marissa Matthews, Maisie Knies, Alison Dasco, Genevieve Vale, Denley Bellows, and Jordan Peterson.

Boys Novice: Harrison Kennedy (coxswain), Dylan Drew, James Burns, Josh Bradshaw, Hunter Shultz, Jack Salem, Niko Gibson, Alex Doggett, and Kyle Strauss.

Girls Novice: Sophia Murphy (coxswain), Caroline Turnak, Patti Ricci, Emma Jacob, Bridget Sandler, Walker Sibley, Luka Gutierrez, Ava Lydotes, and Nora Pluto.

First Mixed Novice: Harrison Kennedy (coxswain), Marissa Matthews, Jack Renna, Jack DeSena, Bridget Sandler, Emma Jacob, Jack Pilotte, Jake Kennedy, and Julia Lopes.

Second Mixed Novice: Sophia Murphy (coxswain), James Feeley, Genevieve Vale, Walker Sibley, Ryan Kost, Will Teague, Izzy Storey, Alexa Fox, and Jack Maurer.

View full race results from the Salty Bow Sprints here.

This past Wednesday evening, the boys and girls varsity one and varsity two boats (same line-ups as the Salty Bow Sprints), competed against Greater Lawrence Rowing (GLR) on the Merrimack River in 1,000 meter races. The teams rowed with the river’s current in light winds and took off from the GLR Boathouse in Lawrence.

HHS’s girls V-1 and V-2 boats were fast off the start and throughout the course and won both races against GLR.

“We have raced some of the best crew teams in the state,” said girls Head Coach Marika Kopp. “The girls are determined, dedicated, and have put in an enormous amount of work to be where they are and keep coming out on top. They are exceptional. Everything they are doing, they do together. And that is what rowing is all about.”

Hingham’s boys V-1 and V-2 boats took second place to GLR, both boats within three seconds at the finish.

Next up, HHS Crew competes on May 22 against Shrewsbury High School on Lake Quinsigamond!

The Hingham High Crew team is in the final days of its “Rowing with PPE (Power - Persevere – Excel)” Fundraiser. Crew is one of the few teams at HHS with no cuts and relies heavily on donations to keep the program up and running. Please help support the team—donate here!

Photos below courtesy of Joshua Ross Photography. Swipe to scroll.