Eight Exeter boats rowed their first race of the season at Lake Quinsigamond yesterday against Andover, St. Paul’s, St. John’s, Simsbury, NMH, Boston Latin and Brookline.  Highlights of the races include wins from the Boys 1st and 4th boats, and Girls 1st, 2nd and 4th boats.  Full results:

G1		G2		G3		G4
Exeter	5:01.40	Exeter	5:18.19	Boston Latin	5:22.79	Exeter	5:55.00
Andover	5:06.76	Andover	5:24.19	Andover	5:26.32	Andover	6:32.27
Simsbury	5:13.58	Boston Latin	5:30.89	Exeter	5:30.86	Boston Latin	6:42.48
Boston Latin	5:14.46	Simsbury	5:38.96	Simsbury	5:35.87
NMH	5:22.77	NMH	5:41.93	Brookline	5:50.50
Brookline	5:27.79	Brookline	5:45.02
B1		B2		B3		B4
Exeter	4:32.20	Andover	4:43.16	St. John’s	4:50.40	Exeter	5:00.65
Andover	4:33.38	Exeter	4:50.87	Exeter	4:56.06	St. John’s A	5:02.58
Simsbury	4:40.62	St. John’s	4:50.97	Andover	5:00.82	Andover	5:09.45
St. John’s	4:43.31	Simsbury	4:58.66	Simsbury	5:17.03	St. John’s B	5:24.07
NMH	4:44.36	NMH	5:06.67

With an overcast sky, temperatures in the low 40s, and little to no wind, the weather is Worcester was conducive to fast times throughout the afternoon.

Boys captain Kasey Colander ’10 said “It was a good first race” for B1.  Even though they had rowed a few scrimmages, “people were pretty nervous.  Our start wasn’t great–we were maybe fifth off of the line.”  After settling into their base rating, the boat worked its way through the field to pull even with Andover.  Both crews fought for the lead in the middle 500m, though Exeter came out half a length ahead at the finish.  Kolander remarked “Our rating was a bit high, so we’ll need to work on not rushing.  But we were really excited to win our first race.”  The boys race against Brooks School this Wednesday at home, and against Kent the following Wednesday on Lake Cochituate.

Girls co-captains Tamar Nisbett ’10 and Abby Loucks ’10 thought “Everything came together really well.”  Based on erg scores, the girls boats are “definitely stronger than last year.  We just didn’t know if that will make us faster than the competition.”  In the G1 race, the boats were fairly even off of the start.  Around the 500 meter mark, they started to open up a lead on Andover.  This push continued through the middle 500, where the boat felt “pretty smooth.”  In the end, G1 finished “a few seats of open water” ahead of Andover.  Looking ahead, both G1 and G2 plan to “focus on technique, especially handle height and pulling in high.”  The girls race against Kent next Wednesday on Lake Cochituate.

Race Photos

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