Sports

Sights Set on the Dent Oars

Andover Boys Crew has wasted no time pre- paring during the pre- season as it comes off of last year’s undefeated regular season, New England Championship, and second-place finish at Nationals.
Serious about be- ing a major competitor again this year, Andover worked in seven practic- es in three and half days of training over Spring Break. The team has con- tinued to train after re- turning to school and is working on setting boat line-ups.

“This year, we want to win the team trophy at Interschols, and basically go out and beat as many teams as possible. We have a lot of depth this year, maybe even more than last year, which will cause making boats to be very difficult,” said Mike Queenan ’13.

As for the regular season, the team has its sights set on the Dent Oars, awarded to the winner of the season’s first race between Andover and Kent.

“Dent Oars is definitely the biggest race of the season; Kent is a big rival who’s always good It’s tough to get out there for the first race of the season, but it’s good to gauge ourselves with an- other top competitor,” said Queenan.

Andover welcomes a promising list newcomers this season, which destines the program for future success. “This year is interest- ing because we have a lot of freshmen; we have two freshmen on varsity which will allow us to have a really good team this year and for the next few years,” said Elezhan Zhakiya ’12.

To incorporate the new talent, Andover will focus especially on building team chemistry. “[Chemistry is] the most important part. Unison movement of the bodies and arms makes everything faster, and there’s no way of win- ning without being able to match up with the person in front of you,” said Zhakiya. The team is already excited for its upcoming season and is currently channeling its focus onto its infamous first race against Kent. “We’ve only been in the water six days, but already we’re rowing as if we’ve been rowing to- gether for a full season,” said Zhakiya.