Andover’s B1 boat came back from a difficult start to win by an impressive 11 seconds, as Andover welcomed Salisbury to the Merrimack for the first home race of the season. All the boats were geared up, and the boys hoped to repeat last year’s sweep of Salisbury. In the Boys first boat race, Andover had a rough start but still managed to pull ahead by a half a length. During its move, the Andover boys took another length to open up a half length of open water lead. From this point on, Andover mercilessly continued to walk away from Salisbury winning by an 11 second margian. “It was good to get a complete race in before St. Paul’s,” said Chip Schroeder ’08. Chris Waskom ’08 added, “It was our first race where we stayed strong throughout the entire 1500m and we are now looking forward to repeating that performance against St. Pauls this weekend. Racing hard through the middle is our main goal because that’s where races are won or lost.” Andover, however, has not lost any races. This is due to the rower’s power and resilience. As Waskom described, “In the Kent race, we pulled ahead very early and just sat on the lead. Against Exeter, we caught a crab about 700m in, which hurt our momentum. This week, we hope to take the lead with our move and stay srong through the middle part of the race.” In the second boat race, the Andover boys jumped ahead at the start. Coxswain Stacey Middlebrook commented, “We had a good start and were able to get a three-quarter of a length lead, but then we sat after the settle. In the middle 500 we got sloppy in the headwind and only managed to increase our lead by another half a length.” Winning by 5.5 seconds, the third different line-up this season looks poised to continue the winning streak over the St. Paul’s second boat. The third boat came away disappointed for the second week in a row, losing by 0.4 seconds in a tough race. Andover was up off the start, but after a rower came off his slide, Salisbury began to reel them in. Andover battled hard to hold off the charging Salisbury boat and nearly did until the jumped slide caused the same rower to catch a half crab, allowing Salisbury to squeak by at the finish. After a grueling week of practice, the fourth and fifths boats raced the Salisbury fourth boat. Andover’s fourth boat dominated the race from start to finish, winning by 15 seconds over the Salisbury fourth boat. The Andover fifth boat came in only seven seconds behind the Salisbury fourth boat. This coming weekend the Andover first boat will race a team it hasn’t beaten in two years. St. Paul’s has won two of the last three Interschols and was only stopped from winning a last year because the crew program was shut down after the flood that sent students home early. “We’re coming off a great week of practice and a good race against Salisbury.” said Captain Rush Martin ’07. He continued, “St. Paul’s hasn’t raced very strong competition yet, so this race will be a good test of where we, as well as St. Paul’s, stand in the league.” Indeed, the outcome of this Saturday’s race will be an indication of who will be the main contenders at Interschols at the end of the spring season. Racing starts at 3:30 p.m., with girls and boys races alternating every ten minutes.
