Courtney McKeen ’27
Sports Editor
This past weekend, the Holy Cross rowing teams traveled to Boston to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta. Each year the race welcomes thousands of athletes and hundreds of thousands of spectators, making it one of the biggest rowing events in the world. Competitors range from collegiate clubs to youth rowing programs to world champions, making it one of the most prestigious and competitive athletic events.
The Head of the Charles Regatta is not only known for its prestige, but its difficulty as a course. Across the 4,702 meters of the Charles that are used for the race, there are sharp corners and difficult bridges to navigate under, not to mention the heavy volume of boat traffic at such a large event. Rowing in this race takes focus, determination, and a drive to succeed.
Another unique aspect to the race is its difficult entry system. If a boat finishes in the top half of their event, the program they are racing for qualifies for an entry in that event the following year. The remainder of entries in the race are through selection in a lottery system. This year, the men’s and women’s teams each sent two boats to compete.
The women’s team sent two boats, an eight and a four. The women’s 8+, (coxed by Larissa McHugh and rowed by Lauren MacDonald, Chloe Stoeckl, Sasha Bornhorst, Jane Doyle, Olivia King, Maggie Jinks, Lydia Fullerton, and Haly Buchmann) finished the race in 17:29.198. This put them in 19th place out of 42 boats, meaning the program qualifies for another 8+ boat at next year’s race.
The 4+ boat (coxed by Grace Cutney and rowed by Clarissa Caushaj, Teagan Schnorr, Lilly Boyle, and Ella Lynch-Bartek) finished the race in 19:06.935, and came in 12th place out of 49 boats. They also qualified the program for a 4+ boat in next year’s race.
The men’s team sent a collegiate 8+ and a club 8+. The collegiate 8+ not only qualified in the top half, but won a bronze medal in the event with a time of 14:52.603. There were 42 total boats in the category. The men’s collegiate boat (Jack Petrus (coxswain), Tyler Williamson, George Elias, Matteo Campos, Jack Amyot, Michael Aronsohn, William Mead, Charlie Gottfried, Henry Linton) set a program record, as this is the best performance at the Head of the Charles in club history.
The men’s club 8+ also had an impressive performance this weekend. The boat (Kevin Greed (coxswain), Patrick Boyle, Toma Sellar, Matt Provencal, Theo Balistreri, Stephen Meier, Ford Lahey, Wilson Langkamp, Nicholas Cesario) finished 11th place out of 34 boats, qualifying for next year’s race. Their finishing time was 15:11.721.
The Head of the Charles was only the second race for the rowing teams this season. They started the fall racing season at the Quinsigamond Snake Regatta on October 5th, where the women placed 2nd in a 4+, and 4th in an 8+. The men won 1st place in the 8+ and 2nd in the 4+.
With the men’s and women’s rowing teams qualifying 2 boats each, it is clear that this was a strong year for the programs. The Men’s team will compete in the Wormtown Chase here in Worcester this weekend, and finish their season at the Princeton Chase in New Jersey the following weekend. The Women’s team will also compete in the Wormtown Chase and finish their season at the Heart of the Housatonic in Connecticut next weekend.
Given the results that both teams have had in their seasons so far, there is surely more success to come in their final races and gearing up for the spring season.
Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
Web Edited by Zexuan Qu ’28
Leave a Reply