Conestoga Crew Club Wins Gold, Silver & Bronze Medals in Stotesbury Cup Regatta and Philadelphia City Championship!

Reflecting their high level of training and athleticism, Conestoga Crew Club rowers stayed focused and confident as they competed in three days of regattas in a row this past weekend, including competing in unprecedented weather conditions on the first day of the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, with over 5,000 rowers entered, the largest high school regatta in the world.  Conestoga Crew Club rowers raced to multiple victories, with Conestoga Crew Club Women’s Quads winning the Gold in all women’s quads sculling events.

Conestoga Crew Club captured 3 Gold medals; 2 Silver medals and 1 Bronze medal in Saturday’s finals of the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, topping off the two-day event that most rowers will likely never forget.  The 88th presentation of the historical Stotesbury Cup Regatta opened on Friday morning to torrential downpours, presenting challenging conditions for both rower athletes and for regatta officials.  Heavy rains rapidly increased water levels in the Schuylkill River, creating strong currents that carried the added hazard of debris, ranging from tree trunks to golf cart roofs, onto the racecourse. Officials made the decision to suspend the regatta in the late afternoon, necessitating the cancellation 15 semi-final races. 

The aftermath of the Friday’s rain caused cancellations and delays that extended into Day 2 of the regatta. Finally, under Saturday afternoon’s sunny skies, and with calmer waters, Conestoga Crew Club rowers took their turns at the starting line, racing to three 1st place gold medal victories in a row, starting with the Girls’ Freshman Quad, (Laura Alcorn, Lilianne Brown, Kate Hudson and Sydney Stephens), remaining undefeated for the season.  Girls’ Junior Varsity Quad (Madeline Beirne, Carly Robins, Emily Hompe and Angela Sarkisian), next crossed the finish line to another exciting 1st place win, holding onto their undefeated crew status. The cheering continued as the Girls’ Varsity Quad (Anne Graf, Caroline Gosnear, Emer Ryle and Megan Hudson), raced across the finish line in 1st place, also remaining undefeated once again in the season.   Girls’ JV Double (Amy Connell and Anna Zibinski), and Girls’ Varsity Double (Rachel Devlin and Annina Ruggirello), each brought home silver medals with their 2nd place finishes and Boys’ Varsity Quad (Niall Carlson; Nathan Leibowitz; Jake Novak; Sean Pepin), rounded out the medal win, coming in 3rd place for a bronze medal finish. 

Also racing for Conestoga Crew Club in the Stotesbury Cup Regatta finals, were the Boys’ Freshman Quad (Max Amsterdam, Griffin Hamilton, Michael Gregory and Matt Balch), and Girls’ Varsity Lightweight Double (Sophie Bodek and Katie Groves), each posting 4th place finishes. In Conestoga Crew Club’s final race of the day, Boys’ Varsity Double (Tyler Simpson and Andrey Lanahan) came in with a 5th place finish in a regatta that had an overall competition of 965 boats from 12 states and 2 countries.

Conestoga Crew Club was back on the Schuylkill River Sunday morning for the Philadelphia City Championship, which were rescheduled after a damaging storm earlier in May.  Three consecutive days of racing did not keep CCC rowers from ascending the Cities Medals Podium, returning with 5 Gold Medals; 2 Silver Medals, 2 Bronze Medals and trophies that Conestoga Crew Club will display for another year.  Conestoga Crew Club’s victories were kicked off with a 1st place win by Boys’ Freshman Double (Jack Corr and Julius Neubig), followed by Girls’ Freshman Quad (Laura Alcorn, Sydney Stephens, Lilianne Brown and Kate Hudson), again, easily holding on to their title as undefeated.  The next 1st place victory went to the Girls’ JV Quad (Madeline Beirne, Carly Robins, Emily Hompe and Angela Sarkisian).  Girls’ Varsity Lightweight Quad (Amy Connell, Katie Groves, Sophie Bodek and Anna Zibinski), would be the next crew to earn a 1st place win for the Pioneers, with the Girls’ Varsity Quad (Anne Graf, Caroline Gosnear, Emer Ryle and Megan Hudson), claiming another exciting 1st place gold medal win, while securing their position as having been undefeated in all regattas in which they have competed on the Schuylkill River.  Silver Medal finishes were had by Girls’ Varsity Double (Rachel Devlin and Annina Ruggirello), and Boys’ Varsity Lightweight Quad (Max Malarkey, Ryan Hollinger, Micky Kling and Hanan Zisling).  The day closed out with Bronze Medals awarded to Boys’ Varsity Double (Tyler Simpson and Andrey Lanahan) and Boys’ Varsity Quad (Niall Carlson, Nathan Leibowitz, Jake Novak and Sean Pepin).

Other Conestoga Crew boats contributing to the excitement of this weekend’s competitions were the Girls’ Freshman Double (Laura Phelan and Gillian Dowson); Boys’ Freshman Quad (Matt Balch, Griffin Hamilton, Michael Gregory and Max Amsterdam); Boys’ JV Single (Anders Backstrom); Boys’ JV Double (Chris Ferris and Steven Devlin); Boys’ Lightweight Quad (Austin Coney, Maarten Monster, Tim Kao and Carleton Monster); Girls’ Varsity Single (Becky Simmonetti) and Girls’ Varsity Single (Sarah Thomas).

The racing is not over yet!  Conestoga Crew Club will be racing this coming weekend in the two-day SRAA National Championships Regatta, May 23-24, at Mercer Lake in New Jersey.  And in June, we'll be cheering them on as they compete in  USRowings Youth Nationals in California!