Wayland-Weston Crew Triumphs In Return After Pandemic Hiatus

This article was contributed to Wayland Patch by Orla Daunt

WAYLAND, MA — For the first time in nearly two years, Wayland-Weston Crew returned to competition on the water in its first regatta of the season, the New England Youth and High School Championship.

On Oct. 9 and 10, in a two-day head race on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Wayland-Weston fielded 20 boats and was thrilled with the results, with 12 boats medaling and three taking first place.

"We didn’t know how fast we’d be, as it’s been almost two years since racing competitively. But we were fast!" Program Director Mike Baker said.

Through dedication and agility, the Wayland-Weston Crew program maintained its team and continued to build strength throughout the pandemic, following safety protocols and training on and off the water. But the New England Championships marked an exhilarating return to competition for Wayland-Weston's high school rowers.

In a championship usually dominated by Community Rowing in Boston, Wayland-Weston brought some stiff competition to the 5-kilometer races. Among the first-place finishers were Varsity Boys 2x (Lucian Mahoney, Aidan Moyazeni), Varsity Boys 2V 4+ (Alex DiCarlo as coxswain, Lucas Tang, Dan McDonald, T.J. Dahl, Aleksi Reczek), and Novice Girls 4+ (Alice Weeple as coxswain, Penelope Biddle, Addison Nugent, Gretta Santangelo, Maya Noyes).

Returning to competition on Oct. 17 for the NH Championships George Dirth Memorial Regatta, a 3-mile head race that attracted 2000 rowers and 400 boats, Wayland-Weston won or placed in seven of the 14 races where they competed, and ultimately won the trophy for best overall performance, The New Hampshire Cup.

The Varsity Girls 4+ (Max Markarian as coxswain, Quinn Gleason, Siena Flanigon, Natalia Serov, Megan O'Donnell) finished first in a field of 15 crews, winning The George Dirth Memorial Cup, awarded to the fastest boat in the Women’s Junior Four-with-Coxswain event. Other first-place finishers were Varsity Girls 8+ (Max Markarian as coxswain, Quinn Gleason, Siena Flanigon, Natalia Serov, Ava Balukonis, Riley Kendall, Megan O'Donnell, Sophia Xie, Maddie Genis) and Novice Girls 4+ (Alice Weeple as coxswain, Penelope Biddle, Addison Nugent, Gretta Santangelo, Maya Noyes).

At the same time that the Wayland high school rowers were in New Hampshire on Sunday, Wayland-Weston also sent six middle school scullers to compete in the Head of the Quinobequin in Cambridge. All six completed the winding course successfully, in a field of 200 scullers, gaining helpful race experience in their development as rowers.

Next up for the team is Head of the Charles Regatta, the largest two-day regatta in the world, with over 600 clubs, 2,200 boats, and 12,000 rowers competing. Two Wayland-Weston boats — a Varsity Girls 8+ and a Varsity Boys 4+ — will be racing in this world-famous event. If you are at the regatta on Sunday morning, look for fans in orange and maroon on the Harvard footbridge after 10 a.m. and come cheer as our crews navigate one of the most famous rowing courses in the world.

Full regatta results and more info about Wayland-Weston Crew can be found at https://www.wwcrew.org/home