The Girls Crew first boat triumphed over rival St. Paul’s School to capture the boat’s first win of the season. However, this stunning victory could not inspire the other Girls Crew boats to overcome the Big Red challenge. Captain Meryl Mims ’03 proudly commented on G1’s performance, “[It was] G1’s first big win in a few years. It was a really hard week of practice, but it all clicked during the race, and our intensity took us right to the finish line.” The girls second varsity boat rowed a very strong race, but was unable to beat St. Paul’s to the finish line. St. Paul’s took the lead early on and kept it all the way, although Andover had recovered much of the distance by the end. As the boats came around the bend to the boathouse, the Big Red was ahead by more than a boat’s length and a little open water. Andover pulled an amazing sprint in the last thirty seconds and finished just a few seats behind St. Paul’s. Coming off the water, two seat Marcella Viktorin ’05 said, “That was definitely awesome. We’ve got our sprint down.” The St. Paul’s time was 5:29.7 and Andover trailed closely behind at 5:32.6. The fate of the races that day depended on the first boat’s finish and the girls certainly performed. With Chana Sacks ’03 coxing, Mims rowed at stroke, followed by Jessie Daignault ’04, Alex Hammer ’03, and Hoppy Maffione ’04. In the bow were Jackie Dwulet ’04, Jackie Latina ’04, Nell Beattie ’05, and Meg Sullivan ’04. “The feeling when the boat is really moving is amazing and we had that feeling on Saturday,” said Latina. The girls took an excellent and powerful start, taking about half of a boat length on St. Paul’s right from the beginning. However, they lost most of that lead, reaching the 500 meter mark almost even with St. Paul’s. However, as the girls regained their power, they brought themselves almost a length up in the middle 500 meters. They kept the lead all the way through the last third of the race, finishing at 5:15.6, an stalwart accomplishment compared to St. Paul’s finish at 5:17.8. “All our hard work paid off and we won,” reflected Latina, “Our sprint was really powerful too and was a sweet finish to a sweet race. We have a lot of work to do this week, but we should be ready to take on Exeter [tomorrow]. They’re going down!” Coxswain Sacks concluded, “We had a really solid race from start to finish. Our focus was on holding up the power especially through the middle 500 meters, and that’s exactly what we did. We still have a long way to go, but as a crew we are focused and ready to do what we need to and have a great shot at Interschols.” Coach Kathryn Green added, “This is the point in the season where the boats should reach their highest speed. Saturday was a show of the kind of power this crew is capable of.” Tomorrow the girls have a dual meet against Exeter and Tabor, followed by the final stretch to Interschols.
