Simsbury High School Crews Medal at State Rowing Regatta

The Connecticut Public School Rowing Association (CPSRA) held its 20th Championship Regatta for public school crews at Lake Waramaug on Sunday, May 19. Thirteen teams from across the state competed on a beautiful Spring day, with Avon, Farmington, Simsbury, Glastonbury, Guilford, Lyme-Old Lyme, East Lyme, Middletown, EO Smith, Valley Regional and Stonington submitting entries in the “eights” racing events. At the end of the day, Glastonbury emerged the winner of the Emerson Cup 8’s points trophy and earned the title of Boys State Champions, while Simsbury claimed the Girls State Champion title and saw five crews finish with gold, silver or bronze medals.

Novice Race Results

Novice girls opened the regatta with two morning heats, sending Lyme/Old Lyme, Avon, Glastonbury, Guilford, Farmington, and Stonington to the afternoon finals. It was a competitive medal race in which Glastonbury finished first with a time of 5:49.1, followed by Guilford at 5:52.4 and then Farmington at 5:52.9. Farmington was followed by Avon, Stonington, and Lyme/Old Lyme, respectively.

Simsbury’s novice boys completed their first season at the regatta by qualifying for the afternoon finals after the morning heats. Stonington took the finals win, with Glastonbury in second and Lyme/Old Lyme finishing third. Simsbury finished in sixth place with a time of 5:28.1. Guided by Max Senchukov (coxswain), the Holden was powered by Josh Phillips, John Galt, Justin Goldfarb, Jason Sherry, Eric Li, Simon Green, David Brendline, and Will Boswell, coached by Andrew Hart.

Third Varsity Race Results

Simsbury’s girls third varsity boat rowed to a third place finish in the finals with a time of 5:45.6, following Farmington’s 5:39.2, with Glastonbury taking first in 5:35.9. Racing in the Pursuit for Simsbury were Gabby Budlog (coxswain), Stella Perdikis, Rachel Coppinger, Sydney Vlach, Emily Goodwin, Elianna Doron, Anthea Luo, Madison Allen, and Addyson Bullen, coached by Elizabeth Austin.

The boys third varsity boat also rowed a strong finals race, finishing second with a time of 4:59.3, less than two seconds behind Glastonbury’s first place finish. Farmington followed Simsbury for third place with a time of 5:01.9. Rowing in the Hawthorne for Simsbury were Reed Bluestein (coxswain), Grey DiMascio, Matthew Dacey, Sam Parenti, Jack Sherman, Ryan Varney, Riley Duncan, Cael DiMascio, and Jack Williams, coached by Paul Carabillo.

Second Varsity Race Results

Simsbury’s girls second varsity crew rowed an outstanding race, finishing first with a time of 5:27.8, four seconds ahead of Stonington, with East Lyme finishing third. Powering the Simsbury Bank were Eleanor Potter, Katie Costello, Marissa Phillips, Nola Hallemeier, Gill Forsberg, Olivia Romanowski, Alexa Michaud, and Morgan de Groot, with Olivia May coxing, coached by Ann Carabillo.

In the boys second varsity finals, Simsbury finished fourth with a time of 4:58.1, trailing Stonington by less than two seconds. Glastonbury won the race with a time of 4:49.2, with Farmington finishing second. Rowing in the Respect for Simsbury were Andrew Brewster, Noah Swan, Parker Zeller, Aidan Schoffstall, Austin Lemis, Dan Picarelli-Kombert, Kyle Shaw, and Kyle Pilon, with Mia Rakowski coxing, coached by Adam Askham.

First Varsity Race Results

The day finished with the highly anticipated first varsity races, both of which generated tremendous excitement among the regatta spectators. In the girls first varsity race, Simsbury rowed one of their best races of the season, finishing as State Champions with a time of 5:09.7, ahead of East Lyme’s 5:12.3 and Glastonbury’s 5:14.5. Powering the Relentless were Chris Norwell (coxswain), Izzy Kuczorski, Maddie Dempsey, Kyra Sanborn-Burch, Abby Hammel, Jess Serra, Lucy O’Sullivan, Millie Malloy, and Elena Marchetti, coached by Ann Carabillo.

The boys first varsity race delivered a thrilling finish, with only five seconds separating the winner from the sixth-place boat. Glastonbury took the win with a time of 4:39.7, followed closely by Simsbury in second place with a time of 4:41.9, Farmington with a time of 4:42.3, Lyme/Old Lyme in 4:42.4, Stonington in 4:43.1 and East Lyme finishing in 4:44.7. In the Ironhorse for Simsbury were Joe Bogdan (coxswain), Chris Harvill, James Hammel, John Cody, Elias Hanna, Ethan Boyd, Wyatt Jacobson, Adam Stine, Will Dempsey, coached by Adam Askham. Simsbury Crew congratulates Glastonbury Boys on their State Championship win!

At the post-race awards ceremony, CPSRA President and Simsbury Crew Girls Head Coach Ann Carabillo praised all athletes for a fantastic day of racing, saying that the CSPRA regatta has grown over the years to become exactly what was envisioned when it was established by Simsbury High School crew coaches twenty years ago. “I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years will bring,” said Carabillo.

The Spring rowing season concludes for Simsbury Crew on Memorial Day weekend at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championships at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA, where six Simsbury crews have qualified to race. For more information about the Simsbury Crew program, visit www.simsburycrew.org.