Crew was anything but the worst in Worcester

Author: Jake Cohen

The Middlebury crew team traveled to Worcester, Mass. this past weekend to participate in the New England Fours Rowing Championships on May 3-4. The novice men had an impressive weekend as the first team finished fourth overall and the second team finished in second. Led by senior Justin Scott '08, the crew team rowed its heart out in an incredibly close and difficult meet.

Not every invitational carries the same weight as the New England Fours.

"This is the most important regatta during the spring season," said Scott. "We see a majority of the teams we compete against each week, with the victor earning the title of the best four in New England." Middlebury has competed in four other meets so far this spring, but none have been as notable and challenging.

Despite the difficulty, Scott and the rest of the team thoroughly impressed with the novice men teams.

"Our novice men had a fantastic showing, finishing fourth in their Grand final and just outside the medals," said Scott. What you may not realize is that there are a number of heats that must be won before a team is granted a spot in the grand final. Only at that point will a boat be recognized for exceptional performance.

The results of the men's varsity's second team bodes well for Middlebury in the future. All eight rowers of the two men's varsity boats are first-years. Ashley Litzenberger '11.5, Chris Chan '11, Mike Nardone '11, Matt Sutherland '11 and Brandon Hawkins '11 proved to make a team that will not go down easily.

The first team novice women also rowed well - it finished fifth in the grand final. Out of all six boats rowing, only these three novices made it to the championship heat.

"This is the best novice class we have had in recent memory, and they have worked extremely hard to get to this point," said Scott.

Though everybody worked hard and rowed well this weekend, it was not the lasting impression every athlete hopes to get from a productive competition. Rather, that came a week ago at the Amherst Invitational. Middlebury raced against two Amherst boats and won with authority.

As a matter of fact, this past weekend was a particularly frustrating one. Scott said, for him, it was the most frustrating moment of the season. "We failed to advance from our heat," he said. "It was so disappointing." Nevertheless, the resilient Panthers are ready to rise again.

"This weekend serves as motivation to surprise some boats this Sunday," said Scott.

Middlebury heads to the ECAC National Invitational Regatta this coming weekend. Both first-team varsity fours as well as the men's and women's novice eights will be racing there and hope to finish the season on a high note.