Crossley rules regatta
The E.L. Crossley women’s senior eight put a bow on a dominating performance for the Fonthill school with a gold medal in the final race of the day at the 77th Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Regatta Sunday on Henley Island.
The gold was the 15th of the day in 42 races for Crossley and 20th medal overall on the day. Crossley also took home four silver medals and one bronze as they overwhelmed the competition in one of their most overpowering team performances at the regatta.
“It’s really great,” senior eight cox Avery Coles said. “I’m really proud of us.
“We were only one of two (local) eights to enter to enter today. We really wanted this. We race this eight in every regatta and we’ve really practised for this.”
Crossley warded off charges from Brentwood and Branksome for the win.
“It was great but it was really hard,” Coles said. “At the end, Brentwood kind of caught up to us a little bit. At the beginning, we were all lined up and by the 1,000 it was us, Brentwood and Branksome head to head.”
Other members of the winning crew are M. Jones, S. Stacey, E. Goedhart, J. Freure, E. Darling, K. Furtney, S. Graham and N. Heaslip.
Several hours earlier, the Crossley crew of E. Alexander, K. Smith, A. Priestly, E. Paquin and E. Stacey started the regatta off with a gold medal in the first event of the day, the women’s junior lightweight 59-kilogram coxed four.
Crossley’s E. Darling and J. Freure then teamed up to take gold in the women’s senior lightweight 63-kilogram double before Liam Shapland, J. Cuff, L. Riddle and A. Nawrocki of Crossley combined to win the senior men’s four, edging out Ridley College.
“We had lost to Ridley earlier in the season so it was back to the drawing board,” Shapland said. “We made a few changes but it was a close race the whole time.”
Shapland said the thrill of competing at the CSSRA is not taken for granted.
“It’s only 20 minutes away but it’s so special for us. We train all season for this.”
Virginia Gates of Saint Paul won the women’s junior single.
“I was really nervous because you never know what can happen so I didn’t come in thinking I was going to win,” said Gates, a 16-year-old, Grade 10 student. “I didn’t lead the whole way, I caught up about halfway.”
The Sir Winston crew of T. Cook, N. Misiura Pociask, M. Sternin, M. Pasquale, G. Robitaille, V. Dodman, C. Cuthbert, M. Chorosinski and Z. Soukop edged out Brentwood in an exciting finish in the women’s novice eight plus.
“It was a crazy race, it was really close,” Sternin said. “It was insane and we had a lot of fun. Our stroke rate was really high and we had a lot of fun.”
The crew planned to celebrate their gold in style.
“Party and junk food,” Sternin said.
Crossley’s M. Jones, E. Goedhart, S. Stacey and K. Furtney took gold in the women’s senior four quad.
“It was a tough one for sure,” Furtney said. “We wanted to stay consistent, try our best and follow our race plan.”
M. Guillemette and J. Moyer won Crossley’s fifth medal, edging out Ridley in the men’s junior double.
Crossley (B. Kennedy, W. Looby, G. Letford, L. Oliver, L. Renwick) continued the blue and yellow wave to gold with a victory in the men’s junior lightweight 72.5-kilogram coxed four.
Crossley’s seventh gold was in the women’s junior four. The crew consisted of Emma Alexander, F. Goedhart, K. Smith, E. Bell-Bockus and Katie Irwin.
“It was really good,” Irwin said. “I feel like we worked really hard for it all season to be able to earn this privilege to be able to win. All the hard work and dedication really shows off on race day.
“I’m really happy with how the race went. The conditions were great and I’m really proud of our whole crew. We earned this.”
R. Snopek, E. Heywood, C. Lobo, K. Lowry and T. Livingstone earned Crossley’s eighth gold in the women’s novice coxed four.
“We really started pushing off at the 500,” Lowry said. “We’re so thrilled. It was a lot of hard work and time but we really pushed. It was all the time and effort we put into it and the support from our coaches and families and the relationships we have with each other.”
The Ridley crew of C. Langlois, S. Swick, J. Postma, C. Pieckenhagen and T. Goertz earned the school’s only gold of the regatta in the women’s senior coxed four.
“I think it was our teamwork, us coming together as a crew and moving with each other and for each and all working for the same thing,” Langlois said. “The support from our coach and everyone at Ridley was amazing. We were feeding off each other’s energy and making it happen. We put in the work so it’s just great to see.”
K. Frick of Sir Winston Churchill cruised to victory in the women’s senior lightweight 63-kilogram single for the Bulldogs’ second gold of the day.
The Eden duo of I. Issig and K. Bartel held off Ridley College for gold in the women’s junior double.
“We got out off the start and kind of maintained and stayed out front,” Bartel said. “I felt like if we’re out front, we have to stay out front.”
The duo placed third in the same event last year.
“It’s amazing, we’re very happy,” Bartel said. “It’s kind of nice to come first.”
A. Hart, W. Babineau, J. Moyer, C. Lobo and J. Bourgeois earned gold for Crossley in the men’s junior four plus.
The crew led from start to finish.
“I was just focusing on keeping it straight and keeping my crew composed,” coxie Hart said. “I had a lot faith in my crew. I knew they could do it. I trust them with everything I have, as much as they trust me.”
Hart had no issues navigating in the rain.
“As long as I can see, I can keep it straight and we’re all good.”
L. Shapland of Crossley earned the school’s 10th gold with a win in the men’s senior lightweight 72.5-kilogram single.
D. Cirello, J. Cuff, N. Paquin, D. Lancaster and M. Giguere kept the Crossley momentum going with a gold in the senior men’s lightweight 72.5 kilogram four.
“We were head-to-head the entire time,” Giguere said. “We had a crazy sprint in us. Our coach was telling us we had a terrible sprint in the semis and he was really hammering on us to get a good sprint.”
Giguere said the crew was thrilled to be part of such a dominating performance by the Fonthill school.
“The team is doing excellent. All the training is really paying off now.”
O. McCullough, T. Livingstone, S. Julie, L. Perco and C. Boisvenue made it an even dozen for Crossley in the women’s lightweight 63-kilogram novice coxed four.
“It was very close,” Livingstone said. “We just wanted win. We pushed the whole way through.
“We are so proud. We all worked super hard.”
S. Cottringer and Gates combined for Saint Paul’s second gold in the women’s senior double.
Crossley’s Bowden Kennedy coxed the 72-kilogram four to gold earlier in the day before moving to the four seat in the men’s junior lightweight 72.5-kilogram eight for another gold.
“It’s pretty good,” Kennedy said. “It was hard we had to fight through it but we got it done and we all pushed out best. A lot of Gatorade, get off your feet, stay out of the sun.”
Other members of the four to row in the eight were Liam Oliver, Liam Renwick, Grant Letford and William Looby.
Miles Quintyn of Saint Paul overcame a bad case of nerves to capture the men’s junior single.
“I was first in both heats and semis but I was still scared out of my mind,” the 16-year-old, Grade 10 student said. “It was one of the scariest things I have ever done. My heart was racing and I was shaking going up to the start.”
Quintyn said a strong start helped calm his nerves.
“It’s really nice to start off ahead and then you can just keep build off of it and not worry about where you want to go,” he said.
Quintyn was thrilled with the gold.
“I’m really happy right now. I’ve been working at this all season. I remember last fall we were at a regatta in Philadelphia every single teammate of mine had a medal and that stung really badly but it definitely pushed me this entire season.”
Crossley (O. McCollough. F. Goedhart, A. Priestly, E. Paquin, E. Stacey) also took gold in women’s junior lightweight 63-kilogram coxed four.
Local crews to earn silver medals were: Ridley College (A. Dadamudi, N. Cousins, H. Tsuji, O. Alexander, C. Thai) in the women’s junior lightweight 59-kilogram four; E.L. Crossley (A. Hart, H. Guillemette, C. Lobo, W. Babineau, J. Soyda) in the men’s junior four plus; Sir Winston Churchill (K. Frick and P. Soyka Rozendall) in the women’s senior lightweight 63-kilogram double; Ridley College (A. Schrompf, E. Leal, C. Pieckenhagen, A. Kidd) in the senior men’s four; Eden (K. Bartel) in the women’s junior single; Ridley College (A. Kidd, L. Winterbottom) in the men’s junior double; E.L. Crossley (A. Nowrocki, N. Paquin) in the men’s senior lightweight 72.5-kilogram double; Ridley College (R. Mason, N. Cousins) in the women’s junior double; Saint Michael (A. Fehr) in the women’s senior single; E.L. Crossley (R. Snopek, C. Jackson, E. Shoenmaker, D. Powell, D. Wimbush) in the men’s novice four plus; Ridley College (S. Swick, J. Postma) in the women’s senior quad; E.L. Crossley (R. Snopek, C. Jackson, E Schoenmaker, D. Powell, D. Wimbush) in the men’s lightweight novice 72.5-kilogram coxed four; Saint Michael (Ashlyn Fehr, Ava Hodgson) in the women’s senior double.
Local crews to earn bronze medals were: Sir Winston Churchill (A. Hassan, A. Duncan, A. Horton, G. Miil, M. Hassan) in the women’s junior lightweight 59-kilogram four; Denis Morris (L. Griffin, M. Hardy, A. Pennacchio, J. VanderVaart, D. Patitucci) in the in the men’s junior coxed four; Sir Winston Churchill (A. White, L. Patterson-Raby) in the men’s senior lightweight 72.5-kilogram double; E.L. Crossley (E. Alexander, G. Lewis, D. Pietracupa, J. Soyda and C. Stevens) in the men’s lightweight 66-kilogram coxed four; Governor Simcoe (C. Mayer, J. Taytum, A. Armstrong, M. Dearborn, A. Haddon) in the men’s novice four plus; Ridley College (C. Pieckenhagen, E. Leal) in the men’s senior double; Ridley (A. Schrompf) in the men’s senior lightweight 72.5-kilogram single; Saint Francis (C. Combden, M. Micallef, F. McGregor, J. Dobson, K. Slade) in the women’s lightweight 63-kilogram novice coxed four.
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