Boys Crew Andover Boys Crew faced Brookline, Simsbury, NMH, and most importantly perennial powerhouses St. John’s and Exeter on Saturday in the Andover/Exeter Invitational at Lake Quinsagamond in Worcester. The second boat race held disappointing results. Although Andover did not prove it was ahead of the competition, it certainly showed it in was in contention for a top place come NEIRAs. Exeter placed first, a significant six seconds ahead of the other boats, but then St. John’s, Brookline, and Andover finished within the same two seconds. Unfortunately, Andover ended up placing fourth, despite the very close last 250 meters. The team has shrugged off the unfortunate results and has turned its attention towards the future, with one goal in mind: getting faster. In certainly the most exciting race of the day, B1 defeated each of the other five boats, making its record 6-1 on the season. The race was technically sound, and the boys proved they were not afraid to pull hard in the middle 500, walking on the leading Exeter boat nearly a full length before the teams prepared for their sprints. Their final time was an outstanding 4:30, and bodes well for the season ahead. Co-Captain and five-seat Karl Hirt ’06 said, “We had a very good race. Our boat is a very solid group of guys. The best part about them is that they are all fun to row with. Hopefully we can continue to work on our rowing, and build on our success at Lake Q into our race next week.” The varsity boats, in addition to B3, B4 and B5, are preparing for their Saturday away races against Salisbury. The Salisbury first boat includes a former Junior National Team member and a Canadian Henley winner, so it looks as though the race may be close. Boys Track Over the weekend, Andover defeated both Reading High and St. Paul’s in a tri-meet by a score of 88-58-37 with help from Chad Hollis ’08 who won the 400 in a time of 52.44 seconds. Hollis is only .54 seconds away from the lower record, set by Knef King ’05 back in 2002. Casey Shannon ’07 also had a big day, throwing exactly 50 feet in the shot put to capture first place by nearly two feet. PA also won the disc with a 124’3.5” throw coming from the hand of Joe O’Hern ’07, who won the event by over ten feet. In the triple jump, Andover accounted for the top three jumps of the day. Mike Donelan ’08 led the trio with a jump of 39’3”. For distance, Andover took first and fourth in the 1500, second and third in the 3000, and Addison Godine ’07 finished second in the 800 in 2:05 after blazing the first lap in 58 seconds. Godine, who had previously been an 800 and 1500 runner, will try the 800 and 400 this coming Saturday to test out his speed. Jason Soule ’06 won the 300 hurdles in 41.0 and also finished second in the 100 hurdles in 17.2. This Saturday, Andover will host Northfield Mount Hermon and Milton in another tri-meet. Cycling Following the team’s first race of the season, Captain Arielle Filiberti ‘07 stated, “If we continue to perform like this, we basically have the Girls’ A Championship in the bag.” Last Wednesday, riders from Andover, Exeter, Profile, and New Hampton gathered at the Holderness School in New Hampshire for a 17 mile course. The course, considered to be difficult, started on a road outside of the Holderness School and finished at the top of the Waterhill Valley Ski Resort Mountain. The first ten miles of the race extended over flat road, leading into a five-and-a-half mile stretch of gradual incline. The last mile-and-a-half, the riders biked up the steep Waterhill Mountain, dreaming of the finish line awaiting them at the top. Captain Filiberti annihilated the competition in her Girls A race, finishing first by a margin of five minutes. In fact, she passed riders from the Boys C race, which started prior to the Girls A race. Only seven girls competed in the A race, four of which were Andover athletes. Lillian Stein ’07 placed third with Berol Dewdney ’09 right behind her in fourth. Roxanne Pierson ’07 rounded out the Andover pack. The Boys A race experienced more disappointing results and lost to Exeter. Unfortunately, Andover’s best rider, Andrew Clay ’08, dropped his water bottle no more than a quarter of the way into the race. Although one teammate offered him a quick sip of his own water, Clay broke away by the second half of the race, left to complete the 17 mile course completely dehydrated. Despite the negative circumstances, Clay finished first of the Andover athletes, yet nonetheless, was disappointed by his time. Reviewing the race he commented, “They attacked me on the final hill and broke away; I couldn’t stay with them. I was so dizzy.” Seniors Colin Touhey ’06 and Mike Monaco ’06 completed the race trailing Clay.
