Boys Junior 4 Wins Stotesbury Regatta

Moorestown Rowing Club spent an exciting weekend on the banks of the Schulkyll River for the 85th Annual Stotesbury Regatta.

This regatta is the largest high school regatta in the world. This year, 176 high schools, 868 boats and more than 5,000 athletes took part in the event.

Moorestown Crew put 11 boats in the water, with five reaching the semifinals and one reaching the medals podium bringing home gold medals and the George Mattson Trophy.

The team works all winter and spring with their eyes on this end-of-year racing weekend. It is run by the Schulkyll Navy of Philadelphia’s famous Boat House Row and attracts teams from Canada and the eastern part of the United States. It is an exciting and crowded event, with the banks of the river teeming with boats, trailers, tents and thousands of spectators.

The first day turned out to be a rainy and overcast day with weather conditions changing from minute to minute. Day 1 of the regatta is primarily timed trial “head races” to determine the top 18 boats to make up three semifinal heats for each category.

The categories for Stotesbury are slightly different than most of the high school regattas. There is no novice category. A number of Moorestown rowers stepped up and raced against experienced rowers.

The Girls Novice 8 was split into two boats. One of these boats was the Girls JV 4, which had raced as novices all season. The team finished 26th out of 54 boats. This boat included Caroline Armstrong (stroke), Hannah Armstrong, Amy Wright, Samantha Wonderlin (bow) and guided very capably by experienced coxswain Maggie Sawin.

The second boat raced as a Girls Light Weight 4 and included Amanda Slominski (stroke), Shannon Farrell, Chris Hill, Gianna Pappaterra (bow) and Izzy Sussman (coxswain). This was Chris Hill’s first race as a rower, having served most of the season as a coxswain.

The boys squad had their own challenges with changes in categories. An inter-squad boat of novices and JV rowers combined to race as a Boys Senior 4. Racing in this boat were Joe Gonelli (stroke), John Levinson, Wes Bickmore, Skylar Bobadilla (bow) and Michaela Duke coxswain. These rowers raced primarily against very experienced juniors and seniors, finishing 43rd out of 63 boats.

The second day of racing brought nicer and a faster river. The club placed five boats in the semifinals. These included the Girls Light Weight 8 (Jessica Buck stroke seat, Julie Camoratto, Katie Steven, Allie Stevens, Scout Brisson, Clara Slight, Alexe Tsao, Sarah Jaraha bow seat and Lizzie Garrison coxswain); the Girls JV 8 (Anna Allende stroke seat, Molly Scott, Kaitlyn Boyle, Madeline Schuler, Kristen Munoz, Casey Powell, Rich Maher, Gabriella Danahy bow seat and Erinn Miller coxswain); the Girls Varsity 8 (Claire Wixted stroke seat, Kristen Van Iderstine, Emily Van Fossen, Samantha Trivinia, Julianna Downey, Danielle Baskin, Peyton Conrey, Gabrielle Martin bow and Sarah Tennenbaum coxswain); and the Boys Light Weight 4 (Rohil Shah stroke seat, Brian Regan, Will Van Fossn, Jason Goldenberg bow and Emily Mullin coxswain).

The Boys Junior 4 bested 53 other boats to take top honors in this most prestigious regatta. The Boys Junior 4 is Andrew Hendrickson stroke seat, Kevin Shaloo, Will Roman, Matt O’Donnell bow and Jack Sencindiver (coxswain). After months of ergi

Normally, Stotesbury is the last regatta of the season, however, the Moorestown Rowing Club will have three boats in the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s U.S. National Championships on the Cooper River. The Boys Junior 4 will have the opportunity to again race against the top boats on the east coast. Also rowing in the SRAA Regatta are the Girls Varsity 8 and the Boys Light Weight 4.