New Trier Rowing Medals at Head of the Charles Regatta 2018

FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW, NEW TRIER BOYS’ CREW PLACES IN TOP 4 AT PRESTIGIOUS HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA IN CAMBRIDGE, MA

For the third consecutive year, the New Trier Boys 1st Varsity 8+ boat earned a medal in the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Oct. 20-21, 2018. For this event, medals are given to the top five finishers.

The New Trier Boys’ 1V finished fourth out of 85 teams competing in the Mens Youth 8+, and placed third in 2016 and 2017—making New Trier the only U.S. high school team to medal three years in a row in the history of the Head of the Charles.

The New Trier Girls 1st Varsity 8+ boat battled strong headwinds and a crowded course to finish 22nd out of 85 crews. “They competed fiercely and with great composure,” said Rose Marchuk, Program Director of Rowing at New Trier, Head Coach and Varsity Girls Coach.

Head Boys and Varsity Boys Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said the regatta had “a deep and competitive field,” with weather conditions “some of the most difficult I have seen on the Charles River.”

New Trier Girls finished the difficult course, spanned by bridges, in 19:15:7. New Trier Boys finished in 16:28:454.

The Head of the Charles contest is the world’s largest two-day rowing event, drawing more than 11,000 athletes and hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the banks of the Charles River. Race day started with rain; temperatures were cold and wind was heavy throughout the day.

New Trier sent its top eight-boats, one boys’ and one girls’, to compete in two of the 61 different race events. Crews compete against one another and the clock, which starts sequentially fifteen seconds apart.

Boys captain and varsity rower Peter Skinner, a senior at New Trier, praised coxswain Jonah Rane for steering a fast course. “We were very happy with a fourth place finish because the only crews ahead of us were this year’s Youth National Champions Sarasota crew, this year’s Henley champions St. Paul’s School from London and RowAmerica Rye. Our boat, composed of 8 seniors and 1 junior, has put a lot of time into the sport and this team, so it was an honor to represent New Trier at the biggest regatta in the world.”

Girls varsity coxswain, senior Rachel Rane, said, “We left everything on the water. Although we weren’t satisfied with the end result, the process it took from the beginning of the season to being able to race at the Head of the Charles is all we could’ve asked for and more.”

The rowers who participated in the event were:

Boys:

Cox Jonah Rane

8 Carl Borsotti

7 Peter Skinner

6 Charles Coppieters

5 Charlie Fargo

4 Nick Woehrle

3 Scott Buzard

2 Pierce Brachmann

1 Enzo Sorano

Spares:

Josh Pickard

Quinn Ragusi

Girls:

Cox Rachel Rane

8 Lily Feinerman

7 Hannah Lerner

6 Allison Elli

5 Janie Rudolph

4 Katherine Figura

3 Claire Melgard

2 Yida Hao

1 Marilyn Gao

Spares:

Emily Axelrod

Kelly Hagedorn