Conestoga Crew Club’s Sixteen Entered Boats Take Home Thirteen Top Three Finishes

The gusting winds and white-capped waves were two of the toughest competitors that Conestoga Crew Club and the seventy-one other competing high school clubs had to face in Sunday’s 5th and final race of the Manny Flick/Horvat Series Regatta.  Facing down conditions that just begged for the slightest slip in technique or endurance, Conestoga Crew Club’s sixteen competing boats closed out the day with thirteen top three finishes, including six 1st place victories and one 2nd place finish for Stoga Girls crews, and one 1st place victory; five 2nd place finishes, and one 3rd place finish for Stoga Boys crews. 

The Girls Freshman Quad (Laura Alcorn; Lilianne Brown; Kate Hudson and Sydney Stephans) left the starting line at 8:48 AM, crossing the finish for a 1st place win in 6:32:39.  The next 1st place win was captured by the Girls Lightweight Quad (Amy Connell; Katie Groves; Sophie Bodek and Anna Zibinski), with a time of 6:09:66. CCC’s Varsity Single (Sarah Thomas), placed first in her flight with a fifty-five and a half second lead over second place.  Girls Varsity Double (Rachel Devlin and Annina Ruggirello), took 1st place in 6:28:50.  Girls Varsity Quad (Annie Graf; Emer Ryle; Caroline Gosnear and Meagan Hudson), remain undefeated in the season as they rowed to an impressive 5:49:40 1st place victory. Girls Freshman/Novice Double (Gillian Dowson and Laura Phelan), rowed to 2nd place in their mid-morning race under increasingly windy conditions.  The Girls JV Quad closed out the morning, sprinting across the finish line in 6:05:41, taking 1st  place in their race and securing the sixth 1st place victory for Stoga Girls.

The Boys crews were met by white-capped wave conditions, kicked up by the gusting winds as boats lined up for the afternoon races.  Stoga Boys Novice Double (Jack Corr and Julius Neubig), took on the waves for a 2nd place finish, just one second behind first place with a time of 6:51:33.  Boys Freshman Quad (Max Amsterdam; Griffin Hamilton; Michael Gregory and Matt Balch), rowed to 3rd place with a time of 6:17:38.  Boys JV Double (Chris Ferris and Steven Devlin) came away with a 2nd place finish, and the Boys JV Quad (Maarten Monster; Austin Coney; Tim Kao and Carleton Monster) finished 4th in their race.  In the Varsity races, the Boys Lightweight Quad (Micky Kling; Max Malarkey; Ryan Hollinger and Hanan Zisling) stayed synchronized and focused as the wind and waves picked up, crossing the finish line in the 2nd place spot, followed by another 2nd place win by the Boys Varsity Double (Tyler Simpson and Andrey Lanahan). The Boys Varsity Quad (Niall Carlson; Nathan Leibowitz; Jake Novak and Sean Pepin) took on the challenging course conditions, coming in with a 1st place win in their race in 5:22:20.  CCC Boys JV Single (Anders Backstrom) and Freshman/Novice Single (Sam Caplan) also raced in the final flick of the series.

For complete regatta results, go to www.phillyflicks.com . 

The Conestoga Crew team will be back on the Philadelphia City Championships, May 4th.  For more information about the Conestoga Crew Club, please visit www.conestogacrew.org.