The first, second, and third eights of the boys and girls squads returned to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA on Saturday for the 2014 New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championship Regatta. NEIRAs, or Interschols, are the culmination of the spring racing season, with qualifying heats in the morning and final races in the afternoon on the 1500 meter Quinsigamond racecourse.

In the morning heats, all boats qualified for the grand final except for B1 amid cool temperatures and a breezy drizzle. In a competitive heat with Tabor, Simsbury and Salisbury, B1 could not break through, and finished in fourth place less than a second and a half behind a grand final qualifying time, leaving them to race in the petite final. In the afternoon, the rain ended and the skies cleared. On the boys side, the disappointed B1 crew finished third in the petite final behind Brookline and Hingham. B2 finished third behind Kent and Andover, edging out fourth-place BC High by less than a tenth of a second. B3 finished first over Andover a mere second, the first Exeter B3 gold since 2005. On the girls side, G1 held off a late push by Kent to win gold by a second and a half over Kent. G2 dominated the competition, rowing above 36 strokes per minute to an open-water win nearly 5 seconds ahead of second-place Kent. G3 led the field for most of the race, but could not hold off Kent in the final 500, and finished second.

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 “2014neira“.

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The 2014 racing season culminates this Saturday, May 24 with the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championship Regatta, otherwise known as NEIRA.  The top three boats from the boys and girls squads will return to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts to race against dozens of other schools.

The 1500 meter racecourse begins near the Donahue Rowing Center to the north and ends in front of Quinsigamond State Park to the south.  Boats will race once during the morning heats and again during the afternoon finals.  The second and third eights must place in the top three of their six-boat heats to proceed to the grand final, while the first eights must place in the top two for the grand final.  The lane assignments in the heats are determined by that boat’s record throughout the regular season.

The below table lists each boat’s record this season, lane assignment, heat time, and final times.

Gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to each of the top three boats in the grand final events. A number of ceremonial trophies are also awarded to winning crews: the Father Frederick H. Sill Bowl and Dixon “Tote” Walker Cup are awarded to the boys first and second eights respectively, and the Kenneth F. Burns Trophy and Converse Prudden Prize to the girls first and second eights respectively. The Hart Perry Cup and Gilcreast Bowl are points trophies 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.

A few reminders regarding the regatta:

• The NEIRA 2014 seeds and schedule shown above can be printed out for reference. It is also included with the race programs given to spectators when entering Quinsigamond State Park.
• Crews will launch from Quinsigamond State Park near the finish line. Click here for directions.
• Lanes are numbered right to left: Lane 1 is to the west closer to Worcester, Lane 6 is to the east closer to Shrewsbury.
• Parking for spectators is not allowed along Lake Avenue or 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. See the parking and traffic map for directions and information about the shuttle bus.

Best of luck to all crews!

For the last dual races of the season, eleven Exeter crews traveled to Turkey Pond in Concord, NH to race St. Paul’s. The weather conditions were excellent, with sunny skies and only a moderate crosswind. The boys squad all finished with margins of seven seconds or greater, setting them up for big showings at NEIRAs next week. The girls squad also swept, with closer finishes in the G1 and G4 races.

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 “2014sps“.

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