Varsity Boys Crew Cut Through the Competition

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Boys Senior four racing at nationals!

Bingham Moloney '18, Sports Editor

Wakefield Crew has made a name for themselves. Placing higher and higher in regattas than they ever have and impressing teams they have raced against this season.

One key element in this impressive Crew team has been the Varsity Senior Boys. These guys have been involved with the team since their freshman year and have grown together as a family. This year, our rowers were more motivated than ever to succeed and leave a strong legacy behind!

Senior Ben Wierzbanowski said of his time on Crew, “When I started crew, the team was pretty garbage, we would always finish close to last and we didn’t feel like a team, This year that changed, it felt like this year we were a family and that helped us in those close races to build each other up and motivate us.”

At the renowned Stotesbury Cup Regatta, our boys went off and made it to the semi-finals, coming in first place in the race with an impressive time of 6:13.030. They came in third place and almost qualified for the finals with a time of 5:43.460. Quite a feat for this boat.

Up next was the SRA National Regatta! Our rowers were determined to put together a great performance and they did; they put on a show at the National Regatta! Led by junior coxswain Lynne Farris, seniors Nick Belvin, Ben Wierzbanowski, Richard Capitan, and Rory Cameron rowed hard. They kept the race close, but did not prevail. For the first time in school history, our Boys Senior 4 placed 4th at Nationals!

What is remarkable about their finish is that this was the second time this group has ever rowed together in a 4. (All season long, they rowed in a varsity 8-boat until Stotesbury and Nationals.) So, over a period of seven days, they had to learn to do their sprint starts, plus adapt their pacing during the racing.  They were going up against the best boats from elite private schools, and had just three preliminary sprint heats to get it right.

“We were shocked. We didn’t think we actually came in fourth when we finished. A member of our boat pulled out their phone and said, guys we’re fourth; none of us believed him. We all were super surprised when it happened” Rory said about the amazing fourth-place finish at Nationals. They rowed hard and showed us the true meaning of what it means to be a warrior.

These Rowing seniors will be dearly missed, Ben is rowing D1 for Stetson, and the other members of this boat will be keep rowing rowing in club teams.