Rowers rock spring regattas with solid strokes All Middlebury boats perform with dedication and desire despite setbacks

Author: Brooke Farquhar

The Middlebury crew team wrapped up its season this past weekend at the New England Championship Regatta held on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass.

Teams are selected to compete at the New England Championships based on season performance, and for the first time, Middlebury women's varsity four went into New England's undefeated and seeded first.

The boat, led by coxswain Stephanie Pritchard '06, and rowed by Miko Heller '07.5, Emily Dawson '08.5, Kathryn Babin '07, and Camden Burton '06.5 finished twelve seconds ahead of competition in the morning heat. Unfortunately, due to technical problems, the afternoon race was not as successful.

As Pritchard described, "about 600m into the race, the speaker system in the Middlebury boat failed, cutting off all communication between [myself] and the rowers." However, the leadership of stroke seat Heller pulled them through the race. Pritchard continued, "Heller performed incredibly, effectively having to take over all decision-making regarding stroke rating and the sprint." At the end of the race, Amherst pulled ahead in the last few strokes, winning by half a second and taking the last of the medal spots.

The women's varsity four finished fourth out of 14 overall, a very impressive finish all technicalities considered. Varsity Coach Alex Machi commented, "Pritchard serves as coach on the water and does a better job than most at motivating her athletes, so being essentially absent for the duration of the race in the Grand Finals was a loss, certainly. I think for most of the race Heller, Dawson, Babin and Burton must have been wondering when she was going to talk to them and that had to effect the way they rowed. It just points out what a huge factor her presence is."

The women still hope to compete in the ECAC Championship Regatta this upcoming weekend, although bids are only guaranteed to those boats finishing in the top three at New England's. Pritchard said, "the Middlebury women are excited for the chance to race again next weekend, this time with all equipment fully functioning."

The women's second varsity four raced well on Saturday but faced a tough heat against eventual first and second place winners Connecticut College and Simmons. Coach Machi commended the value of senior Allison Lange's leadership in the women's second varsity four over the season.

The women's second varsity four - coxswain Kelsey Eichhorn '08, Lange, Flora Campbell '09, Ellen Flanagan '09 and Janet Schroeder '08.5 - was, according to Machi, "anchored" by Lange. Machi said, "[she] helped her young teammates develop over the course of six weeks of racing… I'd been reviewing video tape just a few days ago so, watching them compete this weekend, I was really struck with how markedly improved Schroeder, Campbell and Flanagan are since last fall. Rowing behind Allison really helped them mature quickly."

The women's varsity will surely miss the leadership of seniors Pritchard and Lange next season.

Tonsil surgery and trash talk did not hinder the men's varsity four competition over the weekend. The boat, led by coxswain Brooke Adams '07, stroke Doug Penrose '06, Matt Daylor '06, David Wood '07.5 and Matt Griswold '07.5, finished sixth out of 13 overall.

The line-up was shaken up two days before the race, as Justin Scott '08 had to spend the second half of the week in the hospital after tonsil surgery. Griswold stepped up to fill his place as Machi noted about the change in line-up, "losing bowman Justin Scott two days before the biggest race of the season could have been a devastating blow, but we were very fortunate that Matthew Griswold, who missed the fall season due to an injury, had been training steadily and was able to jump into the boat. His bladework was a little rusty at first, but he found his rhythm quickly and the boat was moving really well by the Saturday morning heat."

As for the course of the race itself, Adams said, "in a competitive first heat, we took second place to Amherst, and fought to beat UVM the entire race. At a regatta in Saratoga two weeks ago, UVM defeated our boat by two seconds, but this time we managed to take the lead with Amherst from the start and held off UVM, allowing our boat to compete later that afternoon in the Grand Finals."

While the Middlebury Women's coxswain Pritchard was silenced by technical difficulties with her microphone during the race, UVM's coxswain forgot the range of his. Adams remarked, "the race was fueled by hearing UVM's coxswain shout: "Middlebury's falling apart"… it was really motivating considering we were about two seats ahead of them for the whole race and not letting them gain on us." He continued, "it was a phenomenal performance and our best race of the season as we finished one second behind Amherst whose boat won the gold later that afternoon."

On the Middlebury varsity men's overall performance, Machi pointed out "the results of the Finals - with the top four finishers all within six-tenths of a second - demonstrate how competitive this category is in New England."

The novice rowers competed over the weekend with marked improvement. Novice Men's Coach Eric Hoest '07.5 noted, "the novice men ended their season very strongly at New England fours…while only having seven weeks' experience with rowing, the boat presented high levels of dedication and competition for much more experienced boats."

The line-up of the four was coxswain Semihcan Doken '09, Nick Palmeri '09, David Reymondet '09, Garrett Reynolds '09 and Scott Robinson '09. Hoest also said that although the novice four finished seventh out of nine, "the race this weekend, and those in previous weeks, shows the tremendous potential that the rowers will bring to the varsity team next fall."

The women's novice fours also had a successful weekend, the first four finishing second in the morning heat and fourth overall. The second women's novice boat beat Bowdoin for the third time this season. Neil D'Astolfo, Novice Women's Coach, said "I was extremely proud of both boats…it was an excellent way to end an incredible season, and I really look forward to seeing what these girls can do on varsity next fall."