Underneath gray skies, heavy winds, and occasional rain, the Medford High Boys Rowing Team started their 2024 Spring season at Lake Quinsigamond at the Bancroft Invitational against Bancroft Academy, St. Mary’s Lynn, Eagle Hill School and Worcester Academy. Having not raced since Halloween, and spending the last 5 months indoors, erging, running, and lifting weights, the Boys team was eager to get back on the water.
The first race of the day was the Boys Novice boat consisting of second season rowers: Jayden Wu, Owen Barczak-Kroll, Euan Rees, coxswain Alex Bress and first season rower Sebastian Carricaburu. They faced off against other novice boats from Bancroft, St. Mary’s Lynn, and Eagle Hill. After a tense time trying to line up the boats for their race, the race director decided to start the race. As soon as the gun sounded, one boat went sideways, two other boats went towards each other, but our Novice Boys stayed straight and pulled away from everyone! Never giving in to the conditions, the boy’s led the entire race. They crossed the Finish Line with a time of 5:43.72 beating the second place boat by over 35 seconds.
The second race of the day was the 3rd Varsity Boys boat consisting of rowers Matt Stricker, Henry Gregor, Charles Orcutt, and James Cluggish, with coxswain Henrique Matos. They competed against Worcester Academy. The race began under pouring rain, with winds so strong that two returning novice boats almost flipped over. The race was very competitive from the start. Both boats were neck and neck for the first 1,000 meters but this is where the experience of the 3rd Varsity boat paid off. They pulled away from Worcester Academy, finishing with a time of 5:27.70, beating Worcester by over 30 seconds.
The most surprising race of the day was the 2nd Varsity boys consisting to two senior rowers Anthony Purifory and Cormac Lynch, senior coxswain Emma Cohen and two second-season rowers Kevin Azizi and Robert Cairns. They faced off against Worcester Academy and St. Mary’s Lynn. Because of the recent weather, this lineup wasn’t able to practice together before the race. By the time the race started, the weather had settled down and the water was perfect. Although the 2nd boats raced extremely well, they weren’t able to catch up to an extremely fast boat from Worcester Academy, finishing in 2nd place by over 30 seconds, with a time of 6:26:93.
The last, and biggest race of the day was the 1st Varsity boat consisting of rowers Adrian Wu, Scott Campbell, Conor O’Leary, Theo Norton and coxswain Oumniya Benalia. They faced off against Worcester Academy, Bancroft, St Mary’s Lynn, and Eagle Hill. Similar to the 2nd Boys race, Worcester Academy was too strong for its competitors. The Medford 1st Varsity boat stuck to their race plan and were able to finish in second place against competition from St. Mary’s Lynn, Bancroft, and Eagle Hill with a time of 5:42:56.
The boys team will build on their success next week, May 1st, against Thayer Academy, Neponset Rowing Club, and Dexter Suffield.
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