Tomorrow, June 7th, marks the one year anniversary of the very first post on ExeterCrew.com. With the help, contributions and encouragement from countless past and present members of Exeter Crew, the site has come a long way. Originally envisioned as a small set of pages with basic information about the program, the site’s readership has grown and much more content has been added, including:

• Dozens of news articles detailing recent races and other Exeter Crew events.
• A comprehensive photo gallery with 1527 total photos from races and boat christenings (with full-res versions available).
• A fully functional discussion board.
• The team’s full schedule, complete boys and girls rosters, and a breakdown of race results for every boat over the entire season.
• Maps and other information about each racecourse on which the teams race.
• A collection of video clips taken at races.
• A history of the Academy’s crew program.
• Biographies for the varsity and junior varsity coaches.
• A detailed list of the 2604 varsity letter recipients since 1923.
• An overview of facilities at the Saltonstall Boathouse.
• “The Whiz Kids,” a recollection by Jack Bissell ’58.

Looking to the future, it would be great to get more user interaction with the website–especially on the forum. For example, anyone rowing over the summer or planning on going to Canadian Henley should post a reply. If you have any photos or videos from Exeter Crew events, make a new thread and post a link so it can be added to the site’s galleries. Any suggestions or comments about the site are best posted on the feedback discussion board.

In addition to contributing content to the site, make sure to tell any of your friends who were part of the program about ExeterCrew.com. The vast majority of the site’s exposure is from word-of-mouth.

On a personal note, I am very happy with the site’s success, and want to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who has visited it regularly. Seeing the site’s traffic grow from a few dozen to a few hundred hits a day has kept me motivated.

This week, expect a news article about the boys and girls eights headed to the USRowing Youth National Championships outside of Cincinnati, Ohio next Saturday, June 14th. In the meantime, Happy Birthday ExeterCrew.com!

Six Exeter crews returned to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA today to race for medals at the 62nd annual New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championship. The girls squad had a tremendous day: the first, second and third girls varsity eights all took gold in their respective events. This is the third time in NEIRA history that a girls squad has swept the competition (St. Paul’s in 1979 and Exeter in 1994). The first boat’s 4:46.6 finish also breaks the 4:48.7 course record for girls eights set in 1996 by Kent. On the boys side, after a disappointing fifth place finish by the third boat and a tough third place finish by the second boat, the first boat managed to complete their undefeated season with a tremendous victory over rival Phillips Academy. Full results:

G1		G2		G3
Exeter	4:46.606	Exeter	4:53.118	Exeter	5:02.363
St. Paul’s	4:50.846	Andover	5:00.026	Andover	5:06.960
Andover	4:52.498	Hanover	5:01.853	Kent	5:11.795
Hanover	5:05.615	St. paul’s	5:03.222	St. Paul’s	5:14.961
Tabor	5:06.112	Kent	5:09.777	Hanover	5:19.618
Boston Ltn.	5:07.050	Tabor	5:26.251	Simsbury	5:29.538
B1		B2		B3
Exeter	4:14.510	Andover	4:21.811	St. John’s	4:32.369
Andover	4:16.289	Kent	4:24.949	Kent	4:33.190
Kent	4:20.028	Exeter	4:26.202	Salisbury	4:36.946
Salisbury	4:25.727	St. John’s	4:31.529	Andover	4:38.372
Shrewsbury	4:28.754	Brunswick	4:34.957	Exeter	4:39.133
NMH	4:34.726	Simsbury	4:37.610	Brunswick	4:50.799

Weather conditions on Saturday were great for racing: sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 60s, and a steady tailwind from the north at 10-15 mph.

The girls first boat, rowing in the M. Catherine Gilmartin, had (from bow to cox) Allison Courtin ’08, Rory Erickson-Kulas ’08, Katrina Regan ’08, Erin Metcalf ’09, Katherine Dyke ’08, Lizzy McDermott ’08, Cathy McDermott ’08, Lynn Ann Forrester ’08, and Alyssa Murray ’08. The boat had a “phenomenal row” in the heat, “some of the best rowing all season” according to Courtin. After an aggressive first 500 meters, Murray called the rating down and did not sprint–the boat finished the race at a 31 and 13 seconds ahead of second place Boston Latin. In the final, the boat got off the line behind Andover and St. Paul’s after a mediocre start and unsteady settle. After a significant move 800 meters in, the Gilmartin caught up to and passed St. Paul’s and Andover, eventually opening up the lead in their best sprint this season to beat St. Paul’s by 4 seconds and Andover by 6 seconds. In addition to winning gold, the Gilmartin’s 4:46.6 finish broke Kent’s 12-year-old 4:48.7 course record, as well as earning a coveted “three-peat”: three wins by the girls varsity eight in consecutive years.

The boys first boat, rowing in the Titus, had (from bow to cox) Tim Moore ’08, Vaughan Coder ’08, Mario Barosevcic ’08, Ryan Jones ’09, Chris Jones ’08, Andrew Safir ’08, Ian Winthrop ’08, Luke Thoms ’08, and Alex Manfull ’09. The boat was “a little nervous going into the heat,” and “definitely felt tense for the first 800 meters–a little rushed on the slide” according to Winthrop. After the Titus gained a comfortable lead on the field, Manfull called the rating down. This shift actually gave the boat more speed, as the rowers gained much more “length and relaxation in the stroke,” and the Titus crossed the finish line at a 29. The final was much closer. The start was somewhat shaky off the line with some rush on the recovery during the settle. By the end of the settle, Andover was a few seats up on Exeter. After calling a few power 5s and 10s, the Titus was head-to-head with Andover at the 500 meter mark. During the middle 500, Exeter slowly opened the margin, until an explosive power 10 at the 1000 meter mark broke open the gap significantly. Andover sprinted early, “around 400 to go,” Manfull called the Titus’ sprint early in response, bringing the rating up three times, going on to win by 2 seconds over Andover and 6 seconds over Kent. This is the first gold medal the boys varsity eight has had since 2002, and the first undefeated season since the legendary crew of 1996 that went on to take gold at Nationals.

The girls second boat, rowing in the Anja, had (from bow to cox) Hannah Ward ’08, Madison Gilmore ’08, Abagail Loucks ’10, Rebecca Kisner ’08, Tamar Nisbett ’10, Katie DeAngelis ’09, Arian Wakeman ’09, Nancy McKinstry ’08, and Katie Courtin ’09. The boat felt nervous going into the heat, and had a somewhat rocky start off the line. The boat recovered quickly and steadily opened their lead until they had open water on the field after the first 500. Courtin called the rating down and the Anja cruised to a comfortable 7 second win. The still undefeated boat headed into the final even more nervous: the 2006 and 2007 girls second eights were similarly undefeated but upset in their grand final, taking silver both years. This anxiety showed in the final as the Anja got off to an even more unsteady start. After the high strokes, the eight was 4 seats back on Andover. Courtin called a move and the boat slowly crept back on Andover, until they were even at the 500 meter mark. In the middle 500, the Anja steadily opened their lead further until, after a number of impressive moves, gained open water before the 1000 meter mark. The boat cruised into the sprint to win by a tremendous 7 second margin and finish their season totally undefeated.

The boys second boat, rowing in the E. Arthur Gilcreast, had (from bow to cox) Sam Morris ’10, Cole Adams ’09, Ray Tilden ’09, John Gorman ’09, Will Scheffer ’09, Kasey Colander ’10, Nick Cushing ’09, Andrew Weinstein ’09, and Julia Millstein ’10. The Gilcreast rowed “pretty well ” in the heat, though “not the best” according to Weinstein. The field was not close going down the racecourse–Andover was ahead of Exeter who lead Simsbury the whole way. In the afternoon final, Exeter, Kent and Andover lead the field. The Gilcreast had a solid start, even with Kent but trailing Andover during most of the race. After Kent starting pulling away, Millstein called an early sprint. The eight gained a little water, but not enough to take Kent, and finished third overall. Weinstein said “It felt like we had a decent second boat, we weren’t that big but rowed pretty well together. If we all train and build our strength, I feel like we should have more speed next season.”

The girls third boat, rowing in the Alfred J. Stanley, had (from bow to cox) Paige Wilson ’09, Katherine Burd ’10, Anne Preston ’09, Stephanie Anklin ’08, Aida Conroy ’09, Nellie Peyton ’10, Sam Reckford ’09, Michaela Tolman ’09, and Bhargavi Puppala ’09. Despite the anxiety in the Stanley going into NEIRAs, the boat rowed a very comfortable morning heat, quickly taking a length lead over St. Paul’s by the halfway mark and quickly opening the margin to a length of open water by the finish. In the afternoon final, the Stanley was a few seats down behind St. Paul’s and Andover after the start. Once the boat settled, the deficit deteriorated, and the eight quickly pulled even in their steady base rate. During the middle 500, the boat gained a half-length lead over Andover, which increased to open water by the sprint. In the end, the boat finished just under 5 seconds ahead of Andover and totally undefeated for the season.

The boys third boat, rowing in the Philip A. Lyster, had (from bow to cox) Jamie Ashton ’10, Lane Pertusi ’09, Tony Baker ’11, Gar Ditz ’10, Ian Tibbetts ’10, Peter Shu ’09, Josh Sans ’09, Paul Nagao ’09, and Clancey Stahr ’11. The boat had a solid start in their morning heat, though the field quickly separated with Kent in front, Exeter in second, and Brunswick in third. Stahr called the rating down after the first 500, and the boat cruised to a comfortable second-place finish. During the final, the boat got off to a slow start: down 2 to 3 seats after the high strokes. After Stahr called the settle, the rating remained unsteady. Andover, St. John’s and Kent lead the field, with Exeter, Salisbury and Brunswick close behind. With 400 meters to go, Andover, in the lane next to Exeter, caught two massive crabs, forcing the Lyster to swerve to avoid them. By the time Andover recovered, Exeter had gained nearly a length and was in third place. With only a few strokes remaining in the sprint, Exeter was a half length ahead of Andover and Salisbury. Suddenly, someone on the Lyster caught a crab, slowing the eight down enough so that Andover and Salisbury both caught up, Exeter finishing in fifth overall.

Overall, a major congratulations to the entire program on another very successful spring season. As the boys and girls first boats both qualified to attend the USRowing Youth National Championship outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, another news post will be published later this week detailing their decision to attend the regatta. A short slide show depicting the entire season is also in the works.

Update: Race photos are now available! Check them out below. Please note that these are a small fraction (370/2252) of the higher quality (one-ninth size) originals optimized for internet viewing. If you are looking for higher quality copies (for prints, cropping, etc.) please do not hesitate to e-mail me and I can easily upload any originals you are looking for.

Race Photos

Heats and Misc

B1

G1

B2

G2

B3

G3

Post-races

This Saturday, the first, second and third boys and girls eights will return to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA for the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championships. Crews will row the 1500 meter racecourse twice: first in the morning heats, and again in the afternoon finals. The heat assignments are based on each boat’s seed: a ranking, based on the boat’s performance in races during the regular season, determined by the coaches on the NEIRA seeding committee. A boat’s performance in this heat determines whether they will row in the finals and which lane they will be placed in. The below table recaps each boat’s record throughout the season and their seed for the NEIRA regatta, as well as the time of that boat’s heat and presumptive grand final.

In addition to the gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to each of the top three boats in the finals, a number of ceremonial trophies are awarded on an annual basis to the winning crews. The Father Frederick H. Sill Bowl and Dixon “Tote” Walker Cup are awarded to the boys first and second eights respectively, as well as the Kenneth F. Burns Trophy and Converse Prudden Prize to the girls first and second eights respectively.

In addition to the medals and ceremonial event trophies, the Hart Perry Cup and Gilcreast Bowl are awarded to the programs which earned the most points in the boys and girls eights events respectively. Points are awarded based on the place in which each boat finishes in its event–with more points alloted from more competitive events.

Looking back to Exeter’s past results at the NEIRA, the boys first eight last won first place in the grand in 2002. The undefeated record of this year’s B1 puts such another championship within reach. On the girls side, the first eight has taken first place in the grand finals for the past two years. The nearly undefeated record of this year’s G1 puts a “three-peat” within reach. By placing first or second at the NEIRA, the boys and girls first eights qualify for the USRowing Youth National Championship at Harsha Lake outside Cincinatti, Ohio. The girls first eight placed fourth and sixth at nationals in 2007 and 2006 respectively. The boys placed fourth at nationals in 2002, as well as placing first in 1996–one of only two NEIRA crews to ever win at nationals (the other is the 1995 St. Paul’s School boys eight)

The NEIRA is the most significant and most exciting regatta all year and culminates countless hundreds of hours of hard work on the part of each member of the team. On behalf of the program, I hope that you choose to attend and support the athletes and coaches who contribute so much to Exeter Crew, 144 years after the program was founded. A few reminders regarding the regatta:

• Crews will launch from Quinsigamond State Park near the finish line. Click here for directions.
• Parking is limited along Lake Avenue and generally not allowed in the Quinsigamond State Park lot. However, plenty of parking is available only a few minutes West at the University of Massachusetts Medical School guest parking lot. All day parking costs $4.
• The entrance fee for the regatta is $5. Included with entrance fee is an official regatta program.
• A printable results sheet is available for download here.
• Additional rowing merchandise and memorabilia will be available from vendors at the regatta.

Best of luck to all crews!

Update: Photos from the christenings of the Gilcreast and the Gilmartin are now available in the Photo Gallery, in addition to photos from this season’s events. The entire gallery has also been reorganized, resulting in faster load times for all pictures.