The weather was grim and the water was choppy, but Wayland-Weston crew pulled through in their season opener last Saturday, with both varsity teams sweeping their first races of the season.

The regatta took place on Lake Cochituate in the early hours of Saturday morning. While most high school students were probably still asleep in their beds, Wayland-Weston, Shrewsbury, and Worcester crews were facing off, rowing short 1500 meter sprint races down the length of the lake.

Racing began with the boys first varsity boats. Each boat consists of eight rowers and coxswain. Wayland-Weston’s 1V [Adam Pitel, Alex Newell, Will Purman, Matt Bailey, Tom Peebles, Kep Edwards, Bobby Dresser, Stephen Freiberg; coxswain Nick Kwan] finished first with a time of 4:46.35, followed by Shrewsbury, 5:03.04, and then Worcester, 5:15.83.

The boys’ 2V and 3V boats, competing against both their teammates and the 2V boats of the opposing teams, came out on top once again. The 2V, [Luke Defren, Alex Coburn, Henry Gula, Michael Wu, Nick Van Sciver, Brandon Blaesser, Dan Cohen, Dave McCarthy; coxswain Amy Hachigian] took first with a time of 5:05.32. They were followed close behind by the 3V boat, [Oliver Pucker, Rohan Kashalikar, Nick Kossack, Josh Picard, James Sykes, Peter Wynant, Jake Waxman, Stuart Yamartino; coxswain Gabe Lozano], with a time of 5:11.75. Shrewsbury showed up at the finish line 25 seconds later, with a time of 5:36.18.

The girls’ 1V [Melissa Otis, Alexandra Hill, Kristi Wagner, Catherine Chappell, Margo Cox, Claire Barkin, Hannah Sieber, Sophie Gavell; coxswain Cara Rapoport] raced next. Though the race times for the girls’ boats were not recorded, the 1V arrived at the 1500 meter mark a full 27 seconds before Shrewsbury or Worcester, finishing strong and steady in the rough waters.

In the last race of the day, the girls’ 2V and 3V boats competed with Shrewsbury and Worcester 2V boats. The girls proved the depth of Wayland-Weston’s team when the 3V [Melanie Wang, Katie Perry, Annie Culver, Robyn Manley, Leah Mycofsky, Ruth Flack, Hannah Blahut, Alli Rogatkin; coxswain Sara Catanese] and the 2V [Becky Paresky, Emmie Perry, Lizzie Becker, Adrienne LaFarge, Anna Wiegand, Susan Cunningham, Anna Keary, Sarah Keane; coxswain Rachel Regent] boats passed the finish line less than two seconds apart. Their closest competitor, Shrewsbury’s 2V, came in 10 seconds later.

Matt Hanig, girls’ varsity coach, summed up the day’s races, saying “All the boats handled the conditions very nicely, especially with a limited amount of water time so far. It’s great to do so well in the first race of the season, and today set the bar for the spring season.”

Saturday was only the beginning for Wayland-Weston, with plenty more races in store. The team’s next competitions will be during April vacation, starting with another small regatta at Lake Cochituate April 18th, against Essex and Bromfield crews, and followed by the CRI Invitational in Boston on April 19th.