After months of preperation and hard work, the HT Crew Club returned to Philly this weekend to participate in its first Head Race since I was hired. Although our practice on Friday was not our best, I think it was very important to getting the nervous energy out of everyone's system and have the kids become more familiar with the regatta course. Bow people and coxswains were able to get a dry run on the course from the comfort of a borrowed Vesper launch before attacking the course in shells at practice and racing on Saturday and Sunday. Crews came to St. Joe's boathouse yesterday with a new focus; relaxed, but attentive and serious. The results proved their new resolve, finishing 1st, 10th, and 15th in the women's open junior quad event and 13th out of 23 in the men's open 4+ event. A special congratulations to Angelie Romano, Tori King, Kelsey McSorley and Amanda Fry who all steered well on a challenging course. The women's top quad of Sophomore, Julie Cippon, Junior Emily Gartland, Senior Emily Davis, and Junior Tori King bested Episcopal, Conestoga, and South Jersey to win this event by over 5 seconds. All boats performed adrmirably yesterday and the level of growth, maturity and leadership on the team far surpasses any performance we've had at previous regattas.
The busy weekend for the Haddon Township Crew Club continued today at the Row for the Cure Regatta which also took place in Philadelphia. Despite some disruption and distraction from inconsistent regatta officials, HT performed equally well today, finishing 1st and 3rd in the Women's 4x, 5th in a very competive Junior 1x event, and 2nd in the Boys 4+. The quad of Julie Cippon, Emily Gartland, Jill Krieger and Tori King posted the fastest time for any women's quad of the day. A special congratulations to our novices Abby, Courtney, and Salena, who competed in their first ever regatta! HT will roll on this week and practice times will again switch. The novice/varsity men's practices will return to 3:15-5:15 and the Varsity women will return to 5:15 practice. We will have all varsity boats at the LATE (5:15) practice this week on Tuesday and Friday and lift at the school on our regular days, Wednesday and Saturday.
Although this was certainly an incredible weekend for the club, all crews will have their hands full in two weeks at the significantly more competitive, Head of the Schuylkill so we are looking forward to a solid two weeks of practice in preperation. Note to parents: we will race on Saturday only at the Head of the Schuylkill. If possible I would again like to get on the river on the Friday before the regatta.
Reminder: All crews will have the day off tomorrow. For any individuals who did not race on Saturday and Sunday, I encourage you to do a 40 min run, erg, or body circuit.