Wayland-Weston crew faced off not only against other teams last Sunday at the Saratoga Invitational Regatta, in Saratoga Springs, NY., but also against the weather. A forecast called for scattered thunderstorms throughout the day. In the end, not a drop of rain touched the dusty ground, but the threat of thunder combined with strong winds and rough water conditions was enough to cause race delays of several hours and the eventual cancellation of a handful of events.

The novice teams, comprised of first year rowers, were the first on the race course Sunday morning. Blessed with both speed and the kindest weather conditions of the day, the novice boys 1st eight [Jonathan Heinlen, Ryan Leddy, Jakub Buzcek, Max Meltzer, Fernando Maza, Evan Tyra, Asa Hecker, Jason Nazarian; coxswain Kyle Kosky] crossed the finish line with a time of 7:39:67, placing second in a field of four boats behind Norwalk Rowing Association.

In the next race, the novice girls 1st eight [Meridith Galang, Emily Mead, Elaine Hunt, Sarah Perry, Marina Tanimoto, Francesca Howe, Sam Kolovson, Danielle Boykin] placed fifth in a seven boat race, with a time of 9:06:49. The girls from Connecticut powerhouse Maritime Rowing Club finished first, living up to their reputation with a time of 8:12:01.

As the day wore on, the lightweight boats took to the water. The varsity boys lightweight four [Oliver Pucker, Brandon Blaesser, Luke Defren, David McCarthy; coxswain Gabe Lozano] placed fourth in their event, with a time of 8:19:52. The varsity girls team raced two boats in their version of that event, placing 2nd and 3rd, once again following Maritime. Their times, 8:33:24 [Jillian Zieff, Claire Barkin, Hannah Sieber, Sophie Gavel; coxswain Cara Rapoport] and 8:57:56 [Melissa Otis, Haley Sacra, Lizzie Becker, Robyn Manley; coxswain Rachel Regent] put one right behind the other in a very competitive field.

The varsity boys raced an open-weight four next [Matt Bailey, Adam Pitel, Kep Edwards, Tom Peebles; Amy Hachigan], finishing fourth with a time of 7:32:40, with just six seconds separating them and first place Fayetteville.

Not long after, the promised storms began to blow in. As the varsity girls open-weight four [Kristi Wagner, Catherine Chappell, Margo Cox, Alexandra Hill; coxswain Rachel regent] made their way down the course, the sky darkened and winds swept in, roughing up the water. The girls finished fifth in their race, with a time of 7:58:28. However, as the skies made abundantly obvious, the trials of the day were nowhere near over.

The event was delayed twice, and finally raced more than two hours after its scheduled time. Still, in what was Wayland-Weston’s only gold-medal race of the day, the varsity boys 3v eight [Nick Kossack, Rohan Kashalika, Jake Waxman, Josh Picard, Nick Van Sciver, Chris Baim, Dan Cohen, Stuart Yamartino; coxswain John Saylor] braved the deteriorating weather conditions to finish first in their event, with a time of 6:45:40. Aided by a tailwind pushing them down the course, the boys were separated from second place Greenwich by a mere second.

The varsity girls 3v [Anna Keery, Sarah Perry, Annie Culver, Leah Mycofsky, Anna Wiegand, Susan Cunningham, Hannah Blahut, Adrienne Lafarge; coxswain Monique Sager] also finished in glory, placing second in a field of seven with a time of 7:29:52. The boat was originally short one rower, and eventually subbed in Perry from the girls novice team, an excellent choice for what proved to be a very competitive race.

Amid the melodramatic weather, the most heart-stopping event of the day was raced by the varsity boys lightweight eight [Mike Paresky, Alex Newell, Will Purman, Mike Wu, Henry Gula, Stephen Freiberg, Bobby Dresser, Alex Coburn; coxswain Nick Kwan], who pounded down most of the 2000 meter course just a hair’s width ahead of rival team Community Rowing Inc., or CRI as their fans can always be heard chanting from the riverbank. In a climactic sprint down the final 200 meters of the course, CRI managed to pull ahead, while the WW boys finished just seconds behind with a time of 5:34.44, earning silver.

“It was good to be at such a competitive regatta with so many teams outside the Mass public league,” said boys varsity coach Thom Collins, a biology teacher at Weston High. “A lot of our boats came out of their races very motivated for what’s to come, either because they lost and want to win, or won and want to win again.”

The official events ended with the boys lightweight eight, though two Wayland-Weston boats had yet to race. Saratoga Invitational officials called the remainder of events off because of unsafe conditions. At times whitecaps could be seen in the water and the wind remained a constant threat.

However, Wayland-Weston girls varsity Coach Matthew Hanig knew that his girls had raced in those conditions before and could handle the challenge. The varsity girls 1v and 2v boats ended racing in an unofficial scrimmage against the few teams willing to tough it out. The 2v boat [Melissa Otis, Haley Sacra, Lizzie Becker, Emmie Perry, Becky Paresky, Katie Perry, Melanie Wang, Robyn Manley; coxswain Suzie Freedburg] raced against Boston Latin and Mercer, coming second to Boston Latin with a time of 6:22.

The 1v [Jillian Zieff, Alexandra Hill, Kristi Wagner, Catherine Chappell, Margo Cox, Claire Barkin, Hannah Sieber, Sophie Gavell; coxswain Cara Rapoport] blew their competition out of the water, placing first by more than a boat length with a time of 6:07.

The team headed home on Sunday night with a large collection of medals and a larger collection of exhausted rowers. “It showed a lot of guts and competitive fire to go out with these other teams in this weather,” said Hanig. “Not only did we compete, we excelled.”

“Our rowers continue to make us proud,” said varsity girls assistant coach Ande Riseman. The novice teams will row at the Lowell Novice Invitation on Saturday, and the varsity teams will defend their home turf, so to speak, at the Wayland-Weston Invitational on Sunday. Bigger races are to come. In only two weeks the team will find itself at the race that qualifies boats for Nationals, the Northeast Regional Regatta. According to Riseman, “We’re excited for what’s ahead.”