On April 11, Jesuit Crew participated in the Route 66/ Catoosa regatta, the second regatta of their spring season. Racing on the course of the Verdigris River, the team extraordinarily took first in every single eight event in which they entered. This course is the shortest in which the team will participate this year, sitting at a length of 1250 meters. The team’s massive success brought home their most first place finishes ever.
At the regatta, Jesuit brought home gold in Men’s Varsity 8, Men’s JV 8, Men’s Novice A 8, Men’s Novice B 4, Men’s Varsity A 4, Men’s Varsity B 4, Men’s Jv A 4, Men’s Jv B 4, Men’s Novice 4, Men’s Lightweight 8, and Men’s JV C/D 4.
The head crew coach John Fife explained his expectations for the regatta, stating, “I knew we were prepared to do well. In a lot of ways, it was a must-win situation for our heavyweight 8 and they stepped up to the challenge.“ He later demonstrated his appreciation for the teams’ performance, sharing that “We won almost every single race that day which fed a swell of confidence for the whole team heading into our biggest part of the year. So, yes, they definitely exceeded my expectations in Tulsa.”
The team also participated in two other regattas the following weekend (the Noxtontown Regatta and the 5th Many Flick regatta) on Saturday April 18th and Sunday April 19th. Noxtontown was held in Middletown, Delaware on a lake located near Saint Andrews Prep, while the Many Flick took place on the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row in Philadelphia (the same place where the upcoming Stotesbury regatta will take place). Unlike the Route 66 Regatta in Tulsa, the lengths of these races were both 1500 meters long.
At these regattas, only the Varsity 8, JV 8, and Freshman 8 participated. In the Noxtontown regatta Jesuit placed 1st place in the Freshman 8 with a time of 4:57.9, the Boys 2nd Varsity 8 in 3rd with a time of 4:35.8, and the Varsity 8 in 3rd with a time of 4:20.7. At the Many Flick Jesuit also competed well, bringing home 3rd place in the Freshman 8 with a time of 4:59.230, the Boys 2nd Varsity 8 in 2nd with a time of 4:35.540, and the Varsity 8 in 2nd with a time of 4:20.560. These results are very promising and show how far the team has come since the beginning of the year.
The most recent regatta in which Jesuit Crew participated was the Central Youth Championships, better known as regionals. This took place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on the familiar Oklahoma River (the same place as the OKC Invitational) on the weekend of May 2nd and continued until Sunday May 3rd. Just like the Oklahoma City Invitational, the race length is 2000 meters the longest of the most recent regattas. This competition helped decide who would be able to qualify for nationals in certain boats.
Jesuit won in many races including the Men’s Lightweight 4 at a time of 7:16.043, Men’s Varsity 8 at a time of 6:26.341, the Men’s 2nd 8 with a time of 6:50.982, Men’s Novice 4 final at a time of 7:48.198, and the Men’s Lightweight 8 at a time of 6:56.044. The freshmen also received 2nd in the Novice 8 division with a time of 7:14.379. Because of their first place finishes, the Varsity 8, JV 8, Lightweight 4, and the Lightweight 8 qualified for nationals in Sarasota, Florida which will be held on June 12th through the 14th at Nathan Benderson Park.
Coach Fife expressed his excitement and approval of the results of this regatta, stating, “I am extremely happy with our performance and results in Oklahoma City at the Central Youth Championships. This is definitely the best overall team performance we have ever had at our regional championship. We had huge victories in the Varsity 8, Lightweight 8, JV 8, Light 4, Novice 4. Not to mention we qualified 4 boats to the US National Championships next month in Sarasota, Florida.”
He then went on to mention that even with these victories the team is not letting up, and will keep going strong in order to prepare for their next regatta in Philadelphia, known as the Stotesbery Regatta . This, even though it will not be the final regatta for everyone, will be the final regatta for the freshmen this year. After that, Natuonals is in June. “Even with our success this spring, we are not resting on our laurels. We are working really hard right now to get ready for the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia next weekend which is the largest high school regatta in the world. Our Varsity 8 is training to win the Stotesbury Cup, our 2V and Frosh 8 are training hard to win the Hammer Trophy and Suter Trophy Respectively. Like true Jesuit rowers, they are never satisfied. This spring has been really exciting to be part of and I cannot wait to see what happens next.”
