Exeter kicks off 2014 season at Quinsig
Eight Exeter crews had their first races of the season at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA against Andover, Simsbury, Shrewsbury, Brookline, and Northfield Mount Hermon. This comes less than two weeks after the squads’ first on-the-water practices to due persistent ice on the Squamscot. Conditions at Quinsigamond were another challenge, as all crews dealt with choppy water and a tailwind gusting beyond 20 miles per hour. Exeter’s G1, G2, and B1 finished in first, while B2, G3, B3, G4, and B4 all finished second to Andover.
| B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | ||||
| Exeter | 4:08.7 | Andover | 4:31.5 | Andover | 4:38.4 | Andover | 4:27.9 |
| Andover | 4:10.9 | Exeter | 4:32.5 | Exeter | 4:38.9 | Exeter | 4:43.6 |
| Brookline | 4:14.7 | St. John’s | 4:36.4 | Brookline | 4:41.6 | Brookline | 5:01.4 |
| St. John’s | 4:16.3 | Brookline | 4:38.6 | St. John’s | 4:42.9 | St. John’s | 5:06.6 |
| Simsbury | 4:17.5 | Simsbury | 4:47.5 | Simsbury | 5:03.8 | Simsbury | 5:26.5 |
| NMH | 4:26.2 | Shrewsbury | 5:22.3 | Shrewsbury | 5:25.7 | Shrewsbury | 5:35.6 |
| Shrewsbury | 4:34.7 | ||||||
| G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | ||||
| Exeter | 4:57.0 | Exeter | 5:07.3 | Andover | NT | Andover | 3:44.4 |
| Andover | 5:00.0 | Andover | 5:15.6 | Exeter | NT | Exeter | 3:59.4 |
| Brookline | 5:15.0 | Simsbury | 5:30.5 | Shrewsbury | 5:27.7 | PA B | 4:02.3 |
| Simsbury | 5:23.5 | NMH | 5:39.8 | Brookline | 5:40.3 | Shrewsbury | 4:13.0 |
| Boston Latin | 5:24.3 | Shrewsbury | 5:44.3 | Simsbury | 6:03.4 | Simsbury | 5:22.1 |
| NMH | 5:31.0 | Brookline | 5:51.3 | ||||
| Shrewsbury | 5:31.7 | Boston Latin | 6:10.5 | ||||
Girls co-captain Jenny DiPietro ’14 praised all of the girls boats on their resilience despite the late start to the season and difficult conditions at Quinsigamond. G1 had a strong start that separated them from the pack, with only Andover keeping up. “The body of the race is the segment that needs the most work…the strength is definitely there, we just need the technical aspects of the stroke to come together.” In the end, G1’s sprint edged them ahead of Andover, taking first by just less than a length. DiPietro noted that “Our race plan wasn’t as solid as it normally is later in the season, but that left us room for improvisation which helped in the tough conditions.”
Please enjoy the photos below taken from the race. If you have photos you want to share, sign up for a free Flickr account and add the photos to the Exeter Crew photo pool according to the instructions. The tag for this race is “2014invitational“.
