Under the leadership of new Head Coach Stewart MacDonald, Andover Boys Crew capped off its regular season by winning the gold Team Trophy at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championship Regatta (NEIRAs) on May 24 for the third time in four years. Andover’s first boat claimed first place out of 18 boats, and B2 and B3 each came in second place in their races.
“Andover [found success due to] a simple, but important, combination of commitment to team mentality, instead of individualism; hard work; and an ethos of determination that would astonish outsiders,” wrote MacDonald in an email to _The Phillipian_.
In B1, coxswain Jake Rauh ’14, Rome Arnold ’14, Nick Faulkner ’16, Marc Sevastopoulo ’15, Dylan Norris ’16, Nico Robertson ’15, Rob Irvin ’15, Ben Hawley ’15 and Chandler Washburn ’16 entered NEIRAs as the second seed with a 3-4 regular season record. In the grand final, the boat pulled a 4:26.56 to beat BC High by one and a half seconds to take home the gold medal.
“Right from the start, we could tell that every boat was ready to win. In the first couple of meters, we fell behind by a few seats. But we got into our rhythm like we usually do and walked up inch after inch until we were ahead of the other boats. We were exhausted at the last sprint, but it was the hardest that we have ever pulled,” said Norris.
Andover’s second boat entered NEIRAs as the second seed with only one loss in its 6-1 regular season. B2 claimed first place in its preliminary heat, but lost to Kent by less than one second in 4:32.10 to claim the silver medal in the finals.
On B2, Jacob Kozol ’15 coxed Cooper Hurley ’14, Js Dackiw ’14, Jake Taylor ’16, Captain Grant Bitler ’14, Jack Lane ’15, Scott Simpson ’14, Diego Blandon ’15 and Andrew Vallejos ’14.
“We had a huge talk before the race, pointing out that five out of our eight rowers were Seniors, and really emphasized how important the race was to all of us no matter what the result was. We all promised each other that we would not walk off of the water unless we had given our all. During the race, it was a huge adrenaline rush and such a good feeling: there was never a moment when I wasn’t giving my all,” said Bitler.
“We rowed the best possible race that we could have. Kent was just faster than we were when it came down to it. We sprinted at the end and came back from a big deficit,” added Taylor.
B3 was slated the first seed at NEIRAs following its undefeated 7-0 regular season record. In the final, B3 fell by just one second to Phillips Exeter Academy in 4:33.84 to take second place.
Overall, Andover was fairly consistent throughout the regular season, battling rough waters and a competitive schedule. B1 faltered a bit in the beginning of the season, with a string of second-place finishes. However, after lineup alterations, the boat won its last two races of the regular season and finished on a very strong note. B2 and B3 each had consistently successful seasons on the water, credited to strong team camaraderie and leadership from the upperclassmen rowers on each boat.
Andover will graduate six Seniors on the Varsity-level boats, three of whom will continue to be involved with crew in college. Rauh has been recruited to cox at Dartmouth, Bitler will row at Brown and Hurley will row at the University of Delaware.
“Rowing at Andover has taught me how to be patient and allow situations to unfold without getting stressed out over them. I have gained the mentality that ‘you may be better than I am today, but I hope you’re better than I am tomorrow because I’m going to keep coming at you no matter what,’” said Bitler.
“This season has been great. Everyone on the team is very close. I’ll probably miss the camaraderie of this team the most as I move on to college rowing,” said Rauh.
Next year, Andover hopes to win its fourth New England Championship in five years.
“We have such a strong, endless supply of Uppers in the Program. They push themselves and their teammates, they love the sport so much, and I can’t wait to see what they will accomplish next year,” said Bitler.
