Six Exeter crews returned to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA today to race for medals at the 63rd annual New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championship.  The girls squad amazingly repeated last year’s sweep of the competition by taking gold in the first, second and third varsity eight grand finals.  This is the fourth time in NEIRA history that a girls squad has swept the competition (St. Paul’s in 1979, Exeter in 1994, Exeter in 2008).  These wins come amidst significant turnover on the girls squad–nearly three-quarters of last year’s varsity girls graduated.  On the boys side, the first boat was edged out of the grand finals by three seats in the morning heats, easily finishing first in the petite final that afternoon.  The second boat fell 0.288 seconds (around 6 feet) short of a bronze medal in its grand final, and the third boat finished sixth in its grand final.  Full results:

G1	Grand	G2	Grand	G3	Grand
Exeter	5:09.157	Exeter	5:25.963	Exeter	5:34.372
Andover	5:12.929	Andover	5:27.050	Hanover	5:38.541
Tabor	5:17.632	Kent	5:33.603	Kent	5:38.871
Kent	5:17.892	Hanover	5:37.519	St. Paul’s	5:41.131
St. Paul’s	5:27.481	St. Paul’s	5:42.879	Andover	5:42.843
Simsbury	5:28.272	Tabor	5:49.858	Simsbury	6:05.879
B1	Petite	B2	Grand	B3	Grand
Exeter	4:52.825	Andover	4:43.404	Kent	4:51.523
NMH	4:56.995	Kent	4:43.845	Andover	4:52.732
St. John’s	5:00.742	Salisbury	4:48.915	Salisbury	4:52.734
Hanover	5:01.002	Exeter	4:49.203	St. John’s	5:07.379
Hingham	5:01.532	Brunswick	4:55.042	Hanover	5:08.133
Middletown	5:11.948	St. Paul’s	5:00.575	Exeter	5:15.014

More information to come!

Race Photos

With school back in session after a relaxing summer break, Saltonstall Boathouse is once again abuzz with activity from fall season crews. Although boats do not compete interscholastically, many returning team members are training hard to improve their strength, stamina and technique for the spring season. A significant number of rowers and coxswains from last spring’s wildly successful boys and girls eights graduated in the Class of 2008–on the boys varsity, seven of eighteen graduated; for the girls varsity, twelve of eighteen graduated.  These departures have opened up many seats on the upper boats, and competition is heating up.

Looking ahead to October, a number of Exonians will attend the Head of the Charles Regatta from October 18-19 in Cambridge, MA as competitors and spectators.  The Exeter Association of New England has once again reserved a tent in Reunion Village next to Weeks Footbridge, one of the best places to view passing crews.  Admission to Reunion Village is $1.00, with other refreshments available for purchase inside.  The village will be open from 8AM-5PM on Saturday and 8AM-4PM on Sunday.  See the event page at the Alumni/ae website for more information.  A listing of Exeter graduates competing in the regatta will be published before the regatta, please contact me if you or a friend is seeded.

A number of Exonians raced a combined total of over 65 kilometers meters last week among thousands of other rowers at the 2008 USRowing Club National Championships on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey. In addition to the highly competitive pool of athletes present at the regatta, many choose to row in multiple events despite ninety-degree heat and humid conditions on the racecourse. In the following list, click each event name to see a results summary for that event, or click the race name to see the detailed results from that race.Ryan Jones ‘09 and coxswain and boys co-captain Alex Manfull ‘09 competed for Boston Rowing Club in the Mens Intermediate Eight (8+), the Mens Junior 8+, and the Mens Junior Coxed Four (4+).

• After a definitive win in the junior 4+ heats, Manfull’s boat cruised to a 5.20 second first-place finish in the Friday semifinals. In the Saturday afternoon final, the four finished a close second, 1.30 seconds behind the Boston USRowing Development Camp.
• After a similarly comfortable win in junior 4+ heats, Jones’ four was not able to hang on in the semifinal in the four, finishing one place and 1.61 seconds out of contention for the final.
• Jones and Manfull raced together in the junior 8+, easily winning their heat for the junior 8+, to qualify for the Friday semifinal, where they finished second to the Boston USRowing Development Camp and qualified for the Sunday morning final. In this race, Jones and Manfull came back from their second place finish to beat the USRowing boat by 3.54 seconds to take first place and gold medals.
• After a solid second-place finish in the intermediate 8+ heat, Manfull and Jones’ eight finished third in the final behind perennial powerhouse Pennsylvania Athletic Club and USRowing Development Camp.

Luke Thoms ‘08 competed for Quad City Rowing Club in the Mens Junior Quadruple Sculls (4x) and the Mens Junior Single Sculls (1x).

• After finishing third in a tightly contested semifinal for the quad on Friday morning, Thoms finished 6th in the final.
• After rowing well in the junior single heats, Thoms finished third in his semifinal, missing the second-place requirement to qualify for the finals.

Chris Courtin ‘06 and coxswain and girls co-captain Katie Courtin ‘09 competed for West Side Rowing Club in the Mens Intermediate 4+.

• Courtin and Courtin repeated their first-place in their heat with a first-place finish in the intermediate 4+ semifinal. In the Sunday final, the four could not keep up with fast crews from Vesper and Penn. A.C. and took third.

Jeremy Bernstein ‘07 competed for Potomac Boat Club in the Mens Intermediate Double Sculls (2x) and Mens Intermediate Quadruple Sculls.

• After a solid first-place finish in the intermediate double heat, and a second place finish in the semifinal, Bernstein finished sixth in Saturday’s final.
• In the intermediate quad, Bernstein sculled to a solid 6.48 second win in the Saturday semifinal. In the Sunday final, his boat couldn’t hang on to the pack, finishing fifth.

Meredith Mead ‘07 competed for Riverside Boat Club in the Womens Senior 4+, the Womens Intermediate 4+, and the Womens Intermediate 8+.

• Mead raced in the semifinal for the intermediate 8+ on Saturday, finishing third in a rare 1/100 second dead heat with Clemson. Such ties are very rare when electronic timing is used, but as the photo finish shows, both bow balls are exactly even. In the unusual seven-boat final, Mead’s eight ended up finishing fourth.
• After finishing second in the intermediate 4+ heat, Mead’s boat wasn’t able to make it in the semifinal, finishing sixth in the top-three qualifier.
• Mead raced in the Saturday semifinal for the senior 4+, but came up short in the competitive, top two to progress qualifier, finishing sixth.

Rebecca Freeman-Slade ‘10 competed for Community Rowing in the Womens Junior Double Sculls, the Womens Junior Quadruple Sculls, and the Womens Intermediate Lightweight 4+.

• Freeman-Slade raced in the competitive semifinal for the intermediate lightweight 4+ on Saturday but came up short, finishing fourth in the top-three qualifier.
• In her Wednesday morning heat for the junior double, Freeman-Slade finished fourth, missing the top-two qualifier for the semifinals.
• In her Thursday morning heat for the junior quad, Freeman-Slade finished fourth, barely a length off of third place and a spot in the semifinals.

Christina Hanlon ‘10 competed for East End Rowing Club in the Womens Junior Double Sculls and the Womens Junior Single Sculls.

• In her Wednesday morning heat for the junior double, Hanlon finished fifth, missing the top-two qualifier for the semifinals.
• In her Thursday morning heat for the junior single, Hanlon finished third, missing the top-two qualifier for the semifinals by only a couple lengths.

Many of the same boats will race again at the annual Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catherines, Ontario from August 4-10. In addition, a few Exonians are among the rowers competing for medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, which begin on August 8th.