Conestoga Crew Brings Home Five Medals at The Stotesbury Cup Regatta including the Ladies Varsity Quad Brides Plate

Conestoga High School Crew competed this past weekend in the largest high school regatta in the United States. Hosted by the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, the two-day Stotesbury Cup Regatta included 963 entries, close to 6,000 athletes and 191 clubs from across the US and Canada.

Conestoga entered twelve boats in Friday’s time trials. In an impressive showing, ten of the twelve boats advanced to the semi-finals.

After a day and a half of competitive racing, three ladies’ boats and three men’s moved on to the Saturday afternoon finals.

In the first final for Conestoga, the Girls Freshman Quad, who placed first in their time trial of twelve crews, finished 1.67 seconds behind Saratoga to capture a silver medal.

The Boys Junior Quad, who placed third of twenty-seven in their time trial and second in their semi-final, finished in third behind Shenendehowa and Haverford bringing home a bronze medal with a time of 4:44.29.

The Girls Junior Quad was up next. The ladies finished second of twenty-four in their time trial, first in their semi-final heat and 5.48 seconds behind to E.L. Crossley of Ontario, Canada to win a silver medal in their final.

Facing some of the most competitive racing of the weekend, the Boys Senior Double finished sixth of twenty-seven in their time trial on Friday. During their Saturday morning semi-final – where only 1.31 seconds separated the top three competitors – Conestoga came in third, earning a berth in to the afternoon finals where they took fifth place.

The final two races of the afternoon were the Ladies and Men’s Senior Quads.

Competing for the The Bride’s Plate, the ‘Stoga ladies were looking to uphold a 5-year tradition of excellence at the Stotesbury Cup. The ladies took first place out of nineteen in their Friday time trial and first place in their Saturday morning semi-final. With a time of 5:09.50, they captured their sixth gold medal in six years beating Western Albermarle by 5.18 seconds.

The varsity men competed in the final event of the day for Conestoga. They finished in third of seventeen in their time trial and third in their semi-final where 2.5 seconds separated the top three places. In another very competitive race, Conestoga captured fourth place with a time of 4:44.35; 3.43 seconds behind Haddon Township and 0.15 seconds ahead of Roman Catholic.

Of the 93 clubs that won medals on Saturday, Conestoga Crew Club finished first in the Team Points category of the sculling-only clubs with 65.5 points.