TC Varsity Men's First 4 at Noxontown Regatta. Photo contributed
The T.C. Williams High School crew team took its armada of rowing shells to St. Andrews School in Middletown, Del. for the Noxontown Regatta on Saturday, April 1 and came home with a trove of victories and other strong finishes. Rowers faced gusty cross-headwinds that hit them hardest in the last 200 meters of the 1500-meter sprints.
Leading the charge for TC were the Men’s and Women’s Varsity First 4 boats. The Men’s boat dominated its race, cruising to the finish with a time of 5:28.8, 41.6 seconds ahead of LaSalle College High School. Powering the Men’s First 4 were Connor McGivern, Asher Elkins, Julian Depeyrot, Jacob Souza, and coxswain Michaela Gleeson. The Titan Women’s First 4 also surged to victory with a time of 6:16.0, 17.9 seconds ahead of host St. Andrews. The Women’s First 4 includes Cecilia Fernandez, Katie Murphy, Reed Kenny, Lauren Kelly, and coxswain Camila Cardwell.
“The St. Andrews invitationals are great regattas,” said TC Men’s Head Coach Peter Stramese. “Efficiently run, great facility, with a wide variety of teams that we'll eventually face at the Stotesbury Cup in Philadelphia. They're a great test of how your winter conditioning programs and early season practices have formed your team. Based on results, we're in great shape, but there's still a lot of the season ahead.”
Other victorious TC boats included the Women’s JV 8 — Rachel Sedehi, Chloe Marsh, Marley Osborne, Cleo Lewis, Elspeth Collard, Piper Bucholz, Lillian Robertson-Smith, Anna Jane Guynn, and coxswain Paula Filios — rowing in the Second 8s race with a winning margin of 6.7 seconds. The TC Women’s Second 4, including Fatima Chavez, Tess Moran, Catherine Mellette, Lilia Greiner, and coxswain Candace Goodman, won the Second 4s race with a time of 6:46.2, a 6.8-second margin over St. Andrews. And making a strong debut in the Women’s Third 8s race, TC’s Frosh finished at 6:29.3, almost 20 seconds ahead of local rival Washington & Lee. The Frosh line-up includes Lila Arnold, Lydia Greenwood, Madeline Toaso, Maddie Allen, Julia Clements, Felicity Brock, Ava Elkins, Alaina Browand, and coxswain Sara Rider.
Other TC boats had strong races on Saturday, with the Women’s Varsity First 8 crossing the line only 2.2 seconds behind W&L. The Men’s Lightweight 8, rowing in the Men’s Second 8s race, recorded a time of 5:10.3, 3.5 seconds behind the LaSalle Lites. In the Women’s Second 8s race won by the TC JVs, their teammates from the TC Women’s Second 8 boat came in third. Finally, in their inaugural outing, the TC Women’s Novice 8 came in second in a race that included both frosh and novice boats.
Next up for the TC rowers on April 8 is the Walter Mess Regatta at Sandy Run Regional Park in Fairfax County.