Girls Crew Repeats as E. Arthur Gilcreast Team Trophy Winners and Secure Their New England Championship
35 St. Paul's School
34 Deerfield Academy
29 Kent School
23 Phillips Exeter Academy
18 Phillips Academy Andover
All three girls boats raced well in the morning heats to advance to the afternoon grand finals.
1st 8: In the morning heat, SPS had a strong start to push ahead all the boats in the field with Kent one length off of SPS at the 1000m mark. Kent was over-stroking the SPS boat by at least 3 beats and the SPS crew remained confident and strong at a solid rhythm. In the last 500, Kent pushed into SPS with a sprint while the SPS crew increased the press to hold off Kent and cross the line first in the morning heat. Rowing comfortably and focusing on length and swing, the SPS boat had crossed the line relaxed and poised for the afternoon grand final. In that race, SPS came to the line against first-seed Deerfield and an Exeter crew that was hungry to redeem their loss to SPS from the week before. All boats had a very strong start, with SPS and Deerfield and Exeter all holding even through the first 250 when SPS and Deerfield pushed up a couple seats on Exeter. As the boats moved into the second 500, Deerfield increased their lead to ó length while SPS and Exeter pulled away from the rest of the field with Andover still charging and Kent and Boston Latin falling behind. As the boats came into the final 500, Exeter and SPS were charging up against Deerfield as all of the boats brought the rating up for a sprint in the last 200 meters. While Exeter attempted a charge, SPS countered and held off the Exeter crew to cross the line 2.8 seconds behind Deerfield, improving their 5 second loss to them last week, while staying ahead of Exeter by 1.6 seconds. The SPS 1st girls won silver medals in a phenomenal race and the best racing piece of the entire season.
2nd 8: In the qualifying heat, the SPS crew rowed within striking distance of Exeter to secure second place and advance to the afternoon grand final. In that event, the SPSsecond boat came to the line knowing that Exeter and Deerfield would be formidable (both had beaten SPS the week before), and that the Kent boat was showing some strong speed from the morning racing. As the boats pushed off the start in the grand final race, Deerfield, Exeter and SPS all were even through the first 500 with Kent pushing to maintain contact. Glastonbury and Andover remained about one length behind the lead boats. As they came into the second 500, Kent began to make a strong push while Deerfield dropped behind Exeter and SPS who were both pushing to hold off Kent's charge. As the boats crossed the 1000m, Kent made a monster move to surge ahead of Exeter and SPSwho were trading seats as the boats came into the last 250m. Kent pushed ahead and SPSand Exeter both took it up for a sprint to the line which was an incredible show of rhythm and power. It came down to a photo finish that showed Exeter 1 one-hundredth of a second ahead of SPS = the equivalent of almost . of an inch. This was the most exciting race of the day and both crews left everything on the water. The SPS G2 rowed the most incredible race of their season, making up for the significant margins on Deerfield and Exeter from the week before. SPS finished with bronze and above their seed, adding critical points to the team trophy tally. An amazing job by this crew!
3rd 8: The SPS third boat rowed well in their morning heat to secure prime position for the grand final. In that race, the top three crews right off the start were Deerfield and St. Paul's with Hanover and Bedford also holding their own against the other crews. SPS pushed ahead in the first 500 while Deerfield and Hanover were trading seats with Bedford, Kent, and Glastonbury not far behind. St. Paul's rowed well with strong rhythm, laying down a powerful stroke and strong base rate to widen their lead over the other crews. In the second 500, SPS continued to increase their lead on the other crews while Deerfield and Hanover continued to battle with the remaining boats dropping back off the pace. As they moved into the third 500, SPS continued to widen their margin on the other boats, rowing with poise and confidence. By the 250 meter mark, SPS pushed ahead increasing their margin to more than three lengths on Deerfield and marched with determination to cross the line a full 12 seconds ahead to win the coveted gold medal. A truly awesome performance by a third boat which has continued to pick up speed all season.
Final Results: In addition to winning the Ernestine Bayer Award for the third girls' eight, SPS also edged out Deerfield by 1 point to win the E. Arthur Gilcreast Team Trophy and secure the New England Championship once again for St. Paul's School. This is the third consecutive team trophy win and the fourth in the last five NEIRA regatttas. A wonderful performance by the SPS crew where every boat did their part in a full team effort to secure the team trophy!
