The Titan boys’ first 4 won a decisive victory in its race. Members include Angelo Leitner-Wise, Carter Weitekamp, Sam Schneider, and Tyler Souza, with cox Anthony Ponichtera. Photo Contributed
The T.C. Williams boys’ and girls’ crew teams reunited in Occoquan on April 18 to take on tough competitors in the Smokey Jacobs Regatta.
Titan rowers were victorious in six races and were runners-up in four others. Leading the way for T.C. crew were the six victorious boats:
In an exhilarating race, the boys’ first 4 boat powered down the 1,500-meter race course with a time of 5:27.7, edging out West Springfield by less than a second. The Titan boys also won the qualifying heats with a time of 5:27.3. Members of the boat include Angelo Leitner-Wise, Tyler Souza, Carter Weitekamp, Sam Schneider, and Anthony Ponichtera (coxswain). The boys’ first 4 is guided by Coach Pete Hearding.
The girls’ lightweight 8 dominated its race, finishing in 5:34.8, almost 20 seconds ahead of Woodbridge. This is the third straight win for this boat. Members of the T.C. lightweight boat include Elizabeth Roda (cox), Rachael Vannatta, Olivia Anthony, Sierra Arnold, Abby Prall, Sarah Scroggs, Caroline Hill, Emily De-Bodene, and LeeAnn Richards. The Lightweight 8 is guided by Coach Jaime Rubini.
The boys’ freshman 8 won its race in 5:07.5, a second ahead of St. Albans. Members of the boys’ freshman 8 include Zachary Khan, Ian Willmore, Wogan Snyder, Cole Towers, Bryce Cook, Julien Depeyrot, Jacob Souza, Connor McGivern, and Michaela Gleeson (cox). Enoch Cleckley guides the freshman 8.
The girls’ freshman 8 won its race decisively for the fourth week in a row, posting a time of 5:41.6, almost 13 seconds ahead of Washington and Lee High School. Members of the boat include Camila Cardwell (coxswain), Hope Parsons, Grace Vannatta, Madeline Gyllenhoff, Grace Hogan, Emma Carroll, Tess Moran, Cleo Lewis, and Rachel Sedehi. Titan head girls’ coach Patrick Marquardt guides the freshman 8.
The girls’ fourth 8 sprinted across the finish line first, winning its race in 6:26.7. Member of this boat include coxswain Camila Cardwell, Brittany Boggan, Catherine Mellette, Osiris Vargas, Brielle Quarles, Sydney McCain, Emma Goeas, Lila Greiner, and Chelsea Guevara.
The Titan men’s lightweight 8 also crossed the finish line first in its race, putting in a time of 5:04.6, although it was racing in an exhibition status. Members of this boat include: Addison Guynn, Preston Tracy, Peter Laboy, Stefanos Psaltis-Ivanis, Alexander Psaltis-Ivanis, Asher Elkins, Callum Jaffe, Sarin Suvanasai and cox Brianna Zuckerman. The lightweights eagerly anticipate racing in full capacity at the Charlie Butt regatta next week.
In addition to winning first place in these six races, the Titans also captured second-place honors in a number of events. In one of the most exciting races of the day, the girls’ first 8 did a powerful sprint from behind and just missed catching McLean, with a time of 5:36.7; the Titan first 8 won the qualifying heats with a time of 5:21.4. The boys’ second 4 put in a powerful performance, with a time of 5:51.8, less than 4 seconds behind McLean. The girls’ second 8 also excelled, finishing second in a tough field, with a time of 5:57.5. The boys’ novice 8 finished first in its flight, and the girls’ novice 8 finished second in theirs.
The Titans now enter the most challenging part of their schedule. First up is the Charlie Butt Regatta, which will be held this Saturday along the Georgetown waterfront and will feature some of the top crews in the Washington, DC metro area. The following two weekends will be the Virginia State Rowing Championship at Occoquan, followed by the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia, the Scholastic Rowing Association National Championship Regatta in Cherry Hill, N.J., and the Canadian Scholastic Championship Regatta in St. Catharine’s, Ontario on June 5-7, which will be the last race of the 2015 rowing season.