Sports

Andover Boys Crew Sweeps Hingham and Shrewsbury

Andover Boys Crew’s B1 and B2 claimed first place over both Hingham and Shrewsbury in their final regatta of the regular season last Saturday on the Merrimack.

After a critical win last weekend, B1 rode a wave of momentum to finish ten seconds ahead of their opponents. Coxswain Jake Rauh ’14 steered 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.

Led by Coxswain Jacob Kozol ’15, B2 pulled a victory by a ten-second margin as well. B2 rowers included Cooper Hurley ’14, Js Dackiw ’14, Jake Taylor ’16, Captain Grant Bitler ’14, Jack Lane ’15, Ben Beckwith ’15, Diego Blandon ’15 and Andrew Vallejos ’14.

“Our success this weekend stemmed from great practicing the week before. We had confidence in our power and knew that it would come naturally, so we focused more on our techniques and staying together as a unit. As a result, we were more in sync with each stroke,” said Vallejos.

Andover’s top three boats will participate at Interschols (NEIRAs) at Worcester on Saturday. B1 and B2 are ranked second out of the 18 boats in their respective races. B1 and B2 are hoping to improve upon their sixth and third place finishes, respectively, from last year, and B2, which has won all its races this season, looks to bring home the Championship.

B3 is headed into NEIRAs as the defending champion and the Number 1 seed among 16 boats.

“Right now, we are all just trying to stay relaxed. We are taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time. But come race day, everyone will be focused and out on the water to win. We have a great group of guys and everyone trusts each other. We feel good about our chances to bring home gold,” said Washburn.