The boys varsity crew team competed in the annual Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association (MPSRA) Spring Championship in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Sunday, May 25. The team entered three eights (boats that fit eight rowers and one coxswain). The third varsity eight got third place, the second varsity eight got fifth place, and the first varsity eight got fourth place.
The day started off with time trials, where at 8:08 a.m., the first varsity eight secured their spot in the Grand Final later that afternoon. The course was recently moved, and as a result of miscommunications in race organization, the course was 500 meters longer than anticipated by coxswains and rowers participating in the competition. This meant that the rowers ended up racing a 2k without prior notice, which they finished with a time of 7:02.8.
The next varsity boys races were later in the afternoon, when the race course had been fixed to be the originally planned 1500-meter race.
The third varsity eight was the first boys boat to compete that afternoon at 2:28 p.m., and was able to win third out of four boats with a time of 5:35.2. The eight had begun the race in last place, but were able to get a 0.4-second lead on the fourth place Wayland-Weston boat.
Senior Misha Zhernevskii, who was in the third varsity eight for the championships, said the race slowed down after the start, but the team pulled it together and pushed through to the end.
“Before, if we had a good start and then fell off, it was over. Usually, we never came back. But this time it was actually so important for our boat. We found the spirit, found this motivation to push it in the last 500,” Zhernevskii said.
The boys second varsity eight raced next, and got fifth out of six with a time of 5:46.3.The boat had competed in the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) Championships on the previous day, and the team was able to improve some aspects of their performance in the MPSRA Championships, according to boat member Gus Lawson.
“We definitely had some things that we could improve on, but we really stepped it up at the end, and we put it all in. We put in all of our effort that we could at the end,” Lawson said.
The last race of the day was the first varsity boys’ Grand Final, where the eight finished in a time of 5:41.6, placing fourth of six boats.
Captain and member of the first varsity eight, senior David Leroy, said the boat struggled with the rough, windy weather and had been racing a new lineup, but that the eight had a strong start and were able to hold up well against the unforgiving weather.
“We’ve had really good races, we’ve had rough races, and at the end of the day, I’m just really glad that I got to be with these people,” Leroy said. “…these are guys I like to be around, and they’re good friends of mine. And I just so happened to train with them, which is sick.”
The MPSRA Championships marked the end of the spring season, meaning that it was the final race for graduating seniors like Zhernevskii.
“It was definitely a really proud moment for the season, and it seems like my last season, probably, at high school for sure, and probably ever. I’m going to a college where there is no crew team,” Zhernevskii said. “I’m really hyped that our boat finished this season like this.”
