Andover’s G1 placed third, and its G2 placed second this Saturday in the race against Exeter and Tabor. Saturday featured ideal racing conditions, but Andover’s rowers had a hard time adjusting to the new lineups that have been consistently changing throughout the season. G2 rower Stephanie Nekoroski ’14 said, “I think the entire team is improving as a whole. We have girls that were novices racing on G1, and our G5 has been strong and steady. I think that if we can keep working as hard as we are, we could get out and beat Exeter in two weeks at NEIRAs.” In the G1 race, Andover (5:11.8) placed third with a time of behind Exeter (4:54.34) and Tabor (5:03.4). Strong tailwinds and currents during the race helped pushed boats downstream and accounted for faster times. G1 rower and Captain Emily Adler ’12 said, “There was a lot of improvement since we last raced Exeter. We need to practice swinging and catching together more before Interschols. Once we get a better feel for the connection in the boat, I think we will improve even more since we definitely have a lot of really fit girls on the team.“ With a time of 5:12.15, Andover’s G2 crossed the finish line 12 seconds after Exeter. Exeter was victorious again with 5:00.46, and Tabor fell flat, finishing nearly 20 seconds after Andover with 5:33.44. She continued, “I cannot speak for all of G2, but I think that we had a very good race. We beat Tabor off the start and stayed even with Exeter until the sprint. They [Exeter] have a really fast crew, and staying alongside them for some tough competition was very motivating.” This race featured some complications. When the boats reached 500m, a motor boat crossed the race course about 300 meters ahead of the racers. This created a strong wake, which forced the Exeter boat to stop for about three strokes. Cara Cavanaugh ’15 said, “It was a little frantic in the boat during the middle of the race, but we were able to maintain a large lead over Tabor. I think that we just need to get adjusted to the new boat, but other than that, we are in a good position.” Last weekend, Andover made another valiant attempt at victory in a race against St. Paul’s and Community Rowing, Inc. (CRI) but could not clinch the win. Andover finished third in both the G1 and G2 races. In the G1 race, CRI won with 5:02.4 and was closely followed by St. Paul’s with 5:05.2. The G1 boat pulled hard but still finished with 5:37.7. The G2 race had closer finishes with CRI also ending victorious with 5:18.5 and St. Paul’s pulling in close behind with 5:23.1. Andover rowed in to the finish at 5:36.1. Andover will host Northfield Mount Herman this Saturday. After the race this weekend, Andover is in its last week of the season and will prepare to race in Interschols on Saturday, May 26.
