Andover Boys Crew dominated in every single facet of its race against Salisbury on Saturday, as boats B1 through B6 defeated their opponents decisively.
Coach Peter Washburn said, “After a tough week with some lineup changes, I was very pleased to see both B1 and B2 row relaxed and fast. We will still need to get faster over the next few weeks, but this weekend pointed us in the right direction.”
“It was fun to see every one of our seven boats have the chance to race. I was very pleased and proud with how they handled themselves both on and off the water,” Washburn added.
With a slight tail wind, Andover’s B1 finished the race in 4:34.5, far ahead of its Salisbury, who finished in 4:50.1.
Elezhan Zhakiya ’12 said, “Salisbury is a beautiful place with nice conditions. Due to the nice conditions we were able to focus, and power and unity came as a result of that. We moved through the course with a relaxed synchronized drive and swing.”
Coming off a tough loss to Exeter, Andover dedicated the week to hard practices. Captain Henry Kennelly ’13 said, “Saturday was great. We had a lot of pain during the week to make up for the loss to Exeter [the previous Saturday], but we grew out of that and came together for a really great race. Thanks to all the work we did during the week, no one was afraid to really break it open at the end and put together a really awesome sprint.”
“Our start was pretty clean, but our settle was very strong, and once we had established an early lead, we just kept walking until we crossed the finish line,” said Alex Smith ’12.
Smith said that despite knowing Salisbury to be less competitive than other teams, Andover clung to the motto, “respect everyone, fear no one.”
Like B1, Andover’s B2 defeated Salisbury’s B2, finishing with a time 4:41.4 as Salisbury finished in 4:50.2.
Although the win on Saturday was important and put Andover on a winning track, Andover’s focus was not the win on Saturday, but its upcoming races against St. Paul’s and Exeter.
“We’re going to have to maintain the same level of focus and determination we had last week and use it to gain momentum against St. Paul’s,” said Franco D’Agostino ’13.
Smith said, “Our next matchup is against St. Paul’s and CRI [Community, Rowing, Inc.], the latter of whom is always fast, so we’re looking forward to a close race. Our eyes are also still on our rematch against Exeter, with the final prize being the Team Trophy at NEIRA’s in late May.”
Andover faces a strong St. Paul’s team this coming Saturday and then has its long awaited rematch against Tabor and Exeter the following weekend.
