Under the watchful eyes of their grandparents and family members, both the girls and boys crews performed well against their Exeter and Tabor counterparts. The girls defeated defending champion Exeter and throttled Tabor. The girl’s first boat avenged its loss to Exeter in a two second win over their archrivals. Captain Alex Farrell ’10 called it a “huge win for G1.” Farrell continued, “It proved that we have what it takes to beat Exeter again in two weeks at Interschols. Our entire boat was consistently aggressive throughout the race.” Overall, Farrell said the she is impressed with the 1st boat. She said she is also, “looking forward to having fun while working hard during these last two weeks of crew at Andover.” G2 raced well against Exeter and Tabor, getting 2nd place in its race, 10 seconds behind Exeter’s second boat. The girl’s third boat captured first place in its race when the boat defeated Exeter in dramatic fashion by only 1.1 seconds. G4 gave Andover the overall win over both Exeter and Tabor when it cruised past Exeter by a margin 12 seconds. Finally, G5 performed admirably against Exeter even though they caught two over-the-head crabs, which stopped their boat on two occasions. The boys split races with Exeter, performing well in early preparation for Interschols. The boys first boat caught a bad break in its race when their rudder malfunctioned causing their boat to run into Exeter’s. Adding insult to injury, one of the rowers caught an over-the-head crab, creating another obstacle. In the end, the boat finished in 3rd place and six seconds behind Exeter. Charlie Walters ’10 said, “I am confident we can catch Exeter, and am ready for another shot at Kent as well.” Andover’s B2 continued its dominance over New England crews this year when it defeated Exeter by 12 seconds and Tabor by 15 seconds. The third boat struggled in its race, placing third. The boat was 9 seconds behind Exeter, the first place finisher. B4 captured 1st place in a nail-biter, overcoming Exeter by 0.3 seconds. That race was restarted after ten strokes when oars from two teams were clashing into each other. The boy’s fifth boat lost to Exeter by two seconds, settling for second place. The sixth boat won its first race of the season, destroying Exeter by over 19 seconds. After all of the races were finished, Andover and Exeter both finished with three wins, ending the regatta in a tie. This was an improvement from the last time these two teams faced off, when Exeter beat Andover. Girls Coach Kathryn Green said, “We are ready for Interschols and look to perform well next week against NMH.” Andover will host Northfield Mount Hermon on Saturday.
