middletowneye

Sunday, May 6, 2012

MHS Girls' Novice 8

MHS Boys' Novice 8

MHS Crews Have Full Weekend of Racing

Saturday, May 5, found the Middletown High School rowing teams in Glastonbury, launching from the Seaboard Marina to race Stonington and Glastonbury High Schools. Middletown brought 7 boats of rowers to the race which started at 3pm in nearly perfect weather conditions. The river was fairly flat with a gentle following current. The threat of rain moved on and welcomed a full afternoon of racing.

MHS performed well and each and every boat felt great about their effort with many coming off the water feeling that they had rowed their best race ever. The crews have worked incredibly hard this spring and enjoyed a lot of time on the water for practice due to the mild spring we have all experienced.

The girls' team came in 3rd in the 1st varsity race, 3rd in the 2nd varsity race, 5th in the 3rd varsity race and 3rd in the novice race. The girls' 1st varsity turned in a very strong performance and though they came up short felt as though they gave their best effort and are motivated to make the changes necessary to increase their boat speed for the upcoming races.

The boys' team had an equally challenging day with 3rd place finishes in all three of their races, 1st, 2nd and 3rd varsity. The 1st varsity, however, exclaimed that they felt incredible and that there was not a single thing they would have done differently - they just know that they need to get stronger and faster and to do it very quickly. The competition was fierce but all crews battled it out to the finish line with Stonington coming in first and Glastonbury coming in second.

All MHS crews look forward to seeing both Glastonbury and Stonington in 2 weeks at the State Championships at Lake Waramaug in New Preston on May 20 for a rematch.

Sunday, May 6, was the 5th Annual Novice Regatta, hosted by Middletown High School Crew and it was held at Harbor Park in Middletown with all crews enjoying a beautiful day on the Connecticut River. The teams visiting Middletown and populating the riverfront from the top to the bottom of the boardwalk at Harbor Park were from Avon, Glastonbury, Guilford, Lewis Mills, Litchfield, Middletown, Simsbury and Stonington High Schools.

The Novice Regatta is one of the team's favorite events. The day of racing is designed so that all novice (first year rowers) teams get a chance to race a short sprint course (approximately 600 meters) a minimum of two times and a maximum of four times. If a team continues to win they continue to race with a hope of making the finals. If a team loses they get a second chance to race and possibly continue to advance. The event is especially valuable to the new rowers because they are allowed repeated exposure to racing situations which better prepares them for the State Championships.

The MHS novice girls raced Simsbury in their first race. The girls (pictures above) rowed well together but came up a bit short, losing by 10.7 seconds. The girls, however, won in their 2nd race, earning the chance to advance by beating Lewis Mills by 7 seconds. In the girls 3rd race they faced and lost to Stonington A(who went on to win the finals) by 20.2 seconds. All rowers showed improvement in their racing technique and will take that experience into this week's practice and upcoming races.

The MHS boys' novice boat had a very strong showing today - the best in the last few years, returning to the finals. In their first race of the morning, the boys beat Litchfield by 9.5 seconds, then took on and beat Stonington B by 13.3 seconds, followed by beating Glastonbury B by 7 seconds. This landed the boys in the finals racing against Glastonbury A. The race was hard fought by both crews with Glastonbury pulling out the victory with a 6.8 second win over Middletown.

Middletown High Crew would like to thank all the crews for attending. The day went extremely well and it was terrific to see everyone down at the river enjoying one of the city's finest resources and places of recreation and competition.