For all athletes, summer is a make-or-break period of time regarding fitness. Depending on your choice, it can be a time of atrophy where you lose fitness and skill, or, a time of gain where you can practice harder, more frequently, and improve faster than you can during the school year. The Jesuit Crew team chose the latter, practicing twice-a-day and banking 20-30 thousand meters between the two practices. The team was finally able to witness the results of their hard work at the first race of the year.
Last weekend, the Jesuit Crew team kicked off their fall season at the Head of the Oklahoma regatta (Sep 29-30) in OKC. After a solid performance in their first regatta, the team took home one silver medal and five bronze medals.
Varsity
The Crew team’s varsity squad displayed great depth this weekend, with both the First Varsity Eight and the Second Varsity Eight placing highly in their event. The First V8 secured third place amidst fierce competition, earning a bronze medal. Only three places behind their teammates, Jesuit’s 2V placed sixth out of sixteen entries, dominating regional rival OKC Riversport and leaving Parati’s First Varsity Eight in their dust. With three entries in the Men’s Youth Varsity 4+ event, Jesuit placed third, fifth, and eighth out of the twenty boats racing. Additionally, the team’s Men’s Youth Lightweight 4+ also placed third. Senior Jeremy McClure ’19 reflected on the varsity’s performance: “Both the V8 and the 2V did well for the first regatta of the season, but we need to continue training and making improvements.”
After breaking for a few hours, all teams return to the race course for the most exciting race of the season, Night Sprints. The top six finishers in the Men’s Varsity 8 event lined up 500 meters from the finish line at 10:00 PM for an all-out test of speed. The First Varsity Eight managed to finish third in a tight race against National Champion Sarasota. Junior Ben Graass ’20 said “We had a decent showing at the first race, but we are on the hunt for gold medals and will settle for nothing less”. The Second Varsity Eight exceeded all expectations, finishing fourth, with a mere 0.4 seconds behind the First Jesuit V8. In a photo finish with the 2V of Dallas United, Jesuit came out on top, becoming the fastest Second Varsity Eight at the regatta.
Freshmen
One of the largest in Jesuit history, the freshman squad found great success in OKC, securing a second place finish in the Freshman Eight and a third place finish in the Freshman 4+. Senior Luke Songy ’19 praised the freshmen’s performance: “The frosh did a great job this weekend, they stayed focused and proved that they have potential to be a boat that can medal at Stotesbury”.
Later this month, the team will travel to Boston, Massachusetts for the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta. Keep checking The Roundup for more Jesuit Crew and other sports news.
