Apparently, it’s not impossible for enemies to get along. Despite the old, bitter rivalry between Wayland High and neighboring Weston, their two-town crew team has had enormous success since its inception in 2001. Wayland-Weston Crew opened the season last Saturday, the 20th, at the Meredith Bay Regatta in Meredith, NH.  The course was a clear-cut 4000 meters on Lake Winnipesauke, in near perfect conditions: a clear sky and light tailwind. WW’s rowers performed strongly, proving that though many key athletes graduated last spring, the team will continue to live up to its high standards.

The day started early for the rowers, who were at Lake Cochituate at 6AM on Saturday morning for the 2-hour bus ride to Meredith, NH. Competing at the regatta were teams from all over New Hampshire and Massachusetts, including Manchester Central Crew, Community Rowing Inc. (CRI), Concord High School Crew. Races each had 20+ boats competing, in boats of four or eight, each with a coxswain.

Boys’ varsity raced 4 four boats and 3 eights. All boats performed well in their races despite missing several key players (due in part to injuries) Their successes, Coach Thom Collins says are “a testament to the depth of our team…many new varsity members (sophomores) stepped up and performed well.” Most boats finished in the top ten of their events. The Boys’ 1st four [Matt Bailey, Adam Pitel, Dylan Gens, Bobby Dresser; coxswain Nick Kwan] finished 5th out of 22 boats with a time of 15:09.69. They were followed immediately by the 2nd four [Henry Gula, Kep Edwards, Nick Van Sciver, Michael Wu; coxswain Amy Hachigian] with a time of 15:13.98 and the 3rd four [Dan Cohen, Alex Coburn, Luke Defren, Dave McCarthy; coxswain Jordan Segall], coming in at 15:22.53.

The Boys’ eights raced later in the day, around 1:30. The Boys’ 1st eight [Will Purman, Alex Newell, Adam Pitel, Matt Bailey, Nick Van Sciver, Dyland Gens, Bobby Dresser, Stephen Freiberg; coxswain Nick Kwan] finished 2nd in their event of 15 boats, bringing home a silver medal for Wayland-Weston, with a time of 13:29.63, behind powerhouse CRI’s 1st eight. The 2nd eight [Oliver Pucker, Alex Coburn, Henry Gula, Brandon Blaesser, Brendan Stack, Trevor Dixon, Dan Cohen, Dave McCarthy; coxswain Johnny Saylor] finished with a time of 14:16.75, in 5th place. Finally, the 3rd eight [Nick Kossack, Rohan Kashalikar, Tom Peebles, Dana Greenlaw, Chris Baim, Josh Picard, Jake Waxman, Stuart Yamartino; coxswain Gabe Lozano] finished in 7th with a time of 14:25.41, a mere seven seconds separating them from 6th place Manchester Central.

The Girls’ Varsity team, coached by WW newcomer Matt Hanig (formerly an assistant men’s coach at Colgate College), raced three 4 boats and three 8 boats. Several rowers were required to race twice and still performed wonderfully, a testament to their strength. The Girl’s 1st four [Jillian Zieff, Claire Barkin, Hannah Sieber, Sophie Gavell; coxswain Cara Rapoport] placed 2nd in their event of 21 boats, bringing home the Girls’ first medals of the season. Their time was 16:06.41. In 7th place came the 2nd four [Melissa Otis, Emmie Perry, Kristi Wagner, Catherine Chappell; coxswain Rachel Regent], with a time of 17:20.37. The 3rd four [Becky Paresky, Haley Sacra, Alexandra Hill, Sarah Keane; coxswain Willa Henderson] finished in 12th place, with a time of 17:47.80.

By the time the 1PM eights races rolled around the water had become a little choppy, providing some challenges. The Girls’ 1st eight [Melissa Otis, Claire Barkin, Kristi Wagner, Emmie Perry, Margo Cox, Catherine Chappell, Jillian Zieff, Sophie Gavell; coxswain Cara Rapoport] placed 5th out of 22 boats, with a time of 15:46.43. They were followed by the 2nd eight [Rachel Yih, Venetia Breene, Lizzie Becker, Annie Quinn, Becky Paresky, Anna Keery, Melanie Wang, Maddy Gold; coxswain Rachel Regent], which placed 7th with a time of 16:30.16, and the 3rd eight [Ally Rogatkin, Adrienne Lafarge, Annie Culver, Leah Mycofsky, Genna Skehan, Susan Cunningham, Hannah Blahut, Melissa Yu; coxswain Suzie Freedburg] which placed 12th with a time of 17:12.39.

Coach Hanig was delighted with the results. All boats finished in the top twelve out of 20+ crews, and they proved their speed against several elite high school-level teams. “I’m particularly proud of how the 2nd and 3rd eights raced. They showed a lot of control and maturity on the water, which translated to a very good result,” said the coach. “Overall, this regatta was a solid start to our fall season.”

Meanwhile, back at the Wayland Town Beach, the novice Boys’ and Girls’ teams continued to practice, not quite ready to race. Hopefully, they’ll be prepared by Sunday, October 5th, the date of the Textile River Regatta in Lowell. All four teams will race on the Merrimack River at the TRR. The season has barely started, but we can expect more medals and photo finishes from Wayland-Weston Crew.