On the weekend of October 27th and 28th, VA Crew traveled to Saratoga Springs, NY for the always fun Head of the Fish Regatta.  Unfortunately, we did not experiece some of the weather that the Fish is known for.  The weather was warm, there was a slight tail wind and the water was relatively flat.  Wow.

At the Fish, VA raced the Womens Junior 1x, Mens Junior 1st 4, Mens Junior 2nd 4, Mens Novice 4 and Mens Junior 1st 8; placing all but the 8 in the top third of all races.

In the single, Mikaela placed 6th out of 18 with a time of 15:35, the Mens 1st 4 placed 11th out of 33 with a time of 12:21, the Mens 2nd 4 placed 7th out of 32 with a time of 12:40 and the Novice 4 placed 11th out of 36 with a time of 13:59.  This was an excellent showing by all boats.

After racing in the fours races, both the 1V and 2V fours combined to race in the Men's 1st Junior 8's race.  With only about an hours rest, this crew came in a respectable 17th out of 31.  Most of the boats in this race did not have their athletes double up in racing and many of the top boats came from large clubs.

This trip is usually the last race for VA, so we make an overnight trip out of it and go out to dinner in Saratoga Springs.  It's a great opportunity to celebrate and visit with VA alums at Skidmore College. 

On Sunday, October 21st, for the first time in its history, Vermont Academy was represented at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA.  Representing the Academy were Max Basescu '14, Garrett Kogel '13, Robert Ronacher '13, George Atkins '15 and Carson Burke '13.  After some technical problems at the start, the boys came down the course in a time of 18:33, which put them in 51st place out of 85 boats.  This was unfortunately six seconds too slow to guarantee a bid for next year's race.  However, they take solace in having beaten NMH, Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Berkshire, BB&N, Chase, Brunswick, and Brewster.  Psychologically, this positions the team very well for the spring.

On Saturday, October 14th, VA Crew traveled to Northield, MA to scrimmage Northfield/Mount Hermon on their home course.  Both teams were originally scheduled to race at the New Hampshire Championships, but both teams were excluded from this race due to over-subscription.  So the coaches decided to set up their own race.

This day was not as successful for the Wildcats as previous regatta's had been.  Rowing on the longest course of the season (3.3 miles) and encountering a blustery head wind in the last half of the course, all three of Wildcat's boats fell to NMH.  

In the fours racing the order of finish was NMH 1st Varstiy, VA 1st Varsity, NMH 2nd Varsity and VA 2nd Varsity.  VA and NMH also boated Novice 8's with NMH taking that race also.

After everyone went home for Long Weekend, Mikaela did row in the NH Championship, placing 4th in a very competitive field and only 1.5% off the winning time. 

On Sunday, October 8 VA Crew traveled to Worcester, MA for the 3rd Annual New England Junior/High School Regional Championship.  The weather was gorgeous and the rowing conditions were near perfect.  This was a very successful day for the Wildcats as every boat placed in its event!

Starting us off in the Womens Jr/HS 1x was Mikaela Paluzcek '13.  Mikaela placed 3rd in the field of 13, coming in 3.5% off the winning time.  Mikaela rowed an aggressive race and it clearly payed off.

Our second race of the day was the Mens Jr/HS Novice 4+.  In this race, the Wildcats prevailed and won the event with a time of 13:23, beating rival Bancroft by four seconds!  The boat was piloted by Paluzcek and powered by Gendron, Gilbey, Therrien and Stolper. 

The third race of the day saw the Mens 1st Varsity boat placing 3rd in a 9 boat field.  Their time of 15:46 was 2.3% off of the winning time of a very strong NMH boat, but was enough to beat rivals Brewster and Bancroft.

The last race of the day saw the Mens 2nd Varsity boat also placing 3rd.  Their time of 16:17 was 5.9% behind a winning Boston College HS boat, but only six seconds slower than NMH in second place. 

Next Week we scrimmage NMH in Northfield.

On Sunday, September 30th, VA Crew traveled to Hartford, CT to compete in the Riverfront Recapture Regatta.  This was VA's first regatta of the fall season.  At the regatta, they entered the Men's 1st Junior 8+, Men's 1st Junior 4+, Men's 2nd Junior 4+ and the Women's Junior 1x.  The weather was stunning, although the crews would have preferred to be rowing downstream than against the current!

In the first event of the day, VA's 8+ piloted by Max Basescu ('14) and powered by Garrett Kogel ('13), Robert Ronacher ('13), George Atkins ('15), Carson Burke ('13), Keenan Fisher ('13), Will Sanger ('15), Salty Pennington Fitzgerald ('13) and Mike Caron ('14) came in 12th out of 21 boats.  Connecticut rowing powerhouses Greenwich, Saugatuck, Choate and Brunswick were at the top of the list with VA 9.32% behind them with a time of 16:13.  Not a bad showing for the first race and having four novices in the boat.

In the second event of the day, VA's 1st four was once again piloted by Max Basescu ('14) and powered by Garrett Kogel ('13), Robert Ronacher ('13), George Atkins ('15) and Carson Burke ('13).  This crew came in 13th out of 18 boats, but this time was only 7.5% off of the winning times posted by Norwalk, Southeastern Conn., Greenwich, Choate and Brunswick. 

The third event of the day saw two VA boats in the same event; the 2nd Varsity 4+ and the Novice 4+.  The 2nd Varsity boat was piloted by Abby Hart ('15) and powered by Keenan Fisher ('13), Will Sanger ('15), Salty Pennington Fitzgerald ('13) and Mike Caron ('14).  These Wildcats placed 7th out of 19 boats in their event and were only 7.9% off the winning times posted by Brunswick, NMH, Choate and Greenwich.  To be commended, the Novice four, piloted by Mikaela Paluzcek ('13) and powered by Matt Gendron ('15), Max Gilbey ('13), Aidan Therrien ('15) and Julian Stolper ('15) came in 12th out of the 19 boats, beating Choate's and Gunnery's 3rd Varsity boats and beating Canterbury's 2nd Varsity boat. 

The last event of the day was the Women's Junior 1x, rowed by Senior Mikaela Paluzcek ('13).  Mikaela's time of 22:24 was good for 10th place out of 13.  This is a great showing considering it was her very first race as a sculler. 

Next week brings us to Worcester, MA for the New England Junior/High School Regional Championship Regatta.