Crew cruises on the Merrimack River Men and women race well in season opener

Author: Livingston Burgess

Middlebury's men's and women's crew teams opened the season on Sunday with what men's varsity captain Eric Hoest '07.5 termed "a resounding success." The groups traveled to Lowell, Mass. for the Textile River Regatta, and laid the groundwork for a season that Hoest expects to be replete with development and growth for a relatively inexperienced squad.

On the men's side, the Panthers fielded teams in a pair of races, specifically the Open Four and Open Two events. The former team, made up of David Reymondet '09, Scott Robinson '09, Garrett Reynolds '09 and Jason Sanford '10 and coxswained by Nick Palmeri '09 took tenth place with a time of 18:30 in a very competitive field of 16. The A team from the Cambridge Boat Club won that race in 15:58.

Hoest and teammate David Wood '07 won the Men's Open Two by default, running an unopposed time of 19:59. Hoest felt optimistic about how the races bode for the remainder of competition.

"I see great potential in both the men's and women's squads in the upcoming weeks," he said. "Now that we have the first race of the year under our belts, I would like to see it move up in the ranks even more."

The Women Panthers entered two boats in an Open Four event marked by heavy rain and wind, placing seventh and eighth out of 19 entrants. Crew B of Maggie Smith '09, Brett Dollar '09, Laurel Wickberg '09, Abby Mayer '09, and coxswain Hana Nagao '09 clocked in at 19:59, and were followed closely by Crew A's 20:11. That team was made up of Dale Freundlich '10, Kathryn Babin '07, Emily Dawson '08.5, and Flora Campbell '09 and coxswain Brooke Adams '07. Riverside Boat Club's A Crew ran away with that race in 17:36.

"[Crew A] had a solid first race, passing a boat within the first 500 meters of the course, and then battling a tough headwind all the way to the finish," commented Adams.

It was in mixed doubles competition, however, that Middlebury truly stood out. The A and B crews placed second and third respectively, out of six competitors - Babin and Hoest made up the A crew, and Wood and Adams the B. Babin and Hoest finished in 18:56, about half a minute off Cygnet Rowing Club's A pair's winning time. Woods and Adams posted a time of 19:35.

Like, Hoest, Adams was eager for more chances for the crew teams to demonstrate what she considers a large amount of potential. Their next chance comes at the New Hampshire Championships, over the weekend of October 14.