On Saturday, the Novice 4 (Travis Rosenbluth, Drew Armstrong, Andrew Rippel, Andrew Ramsey, and Keith Bradley) had a rough start, breaking an oar at the very beginning of their time trial. They were allowed to row back, get a new oar, and complete their time trial, in which they finished with the fastest time. They then won their final by almost 9 seconds over the Haverford School.

The JV Quad (Derek Timm-Brock, Jeff Ford, Sam Fisher, and Robbie Walzer) qualified for the finals in their time trial and placed 4th against Don Bosco Prep (NJ) and locals Malvern Prep and Haverford.

The JV 4 (Kit Norris, Alex Lerman, Anders Engman, Ryan Archer, and Dave Belyea) placed 4th in their time trial, beat out only by Saratoga and neighbors Haverford and Episcopal. Poughkeepsie also edged them in their final and they placed fifth.

The Men’s Varsity Double (Alex Iozzo and Peter Lisle) placed 4th in both the time trial and final, less than 2 seconds out of 3rd place.

The Varsity 4 (Rye Biddle, Mike Armstrong, Mike Katin, Danny Costanza, and Ian Riley), with only one loss all year (to The Gunnery last fall), finished 1st in both their time trial and final, beating long-time rival Episcopal by just over 2 seconds to bring home Shipley’s second New Jersey State Championship gold medal of the day.

Sunday brought a longer race – 2,000 meters instead of the usual 1,500 – and some new competition from around the region.

The Novice 4 started the day with another win, this time by over 20 seconds, to remain undefeated for the spring. The Novice Quad, racing for the first time after illness sidelined them last weekend, had a tough heat, finishing 4th but placing 6 out of 11 by time against the other boats in their event (only varsity events had finals). The JV Quad finished fifth in their event, and the JV 4 finished first. The Varsity 4 handily won their first heat and then their final, with a 20-second margin between themselves and the rest of the field.

Shipley crew will face many of the same boats from Saturday’s race, along with Catholic League rivals (who competed in their own championships this weekend) on the Schuylkill next Sunday, May 6 in the Philadelphia City Championships.

Girls’ Crew
The Shipley School’s girls’ rowing team had a full weekend of racing on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, NJ. On Saturday, April 28 at the New Jersey Scholastic Rowing Championships, the Shipley girls showed a strong performance, taking 3rd Place slots in the JV 4+ and Senior 4+ finals. On Sunday, April 29, the girls rowed to 2nd and 3rd finishes in the Novice 8+ and Varsity 2 finals of the Cooper Cup Regatta.

The Girl's Novice 8+ placed 11th out of a field of 29 boats in their time trial at the New Jersey Scholastic Rowing Championships on Saturday. The boat included Hannah Scott, Louisa Raymond, Morgane Hayes, Maddie Krick, Natalie Molta, Audrey Allen, Brittany Zoll, Nikki Sullivan, and Jen Smith (cox).

Rowing for the first time in a four-person sweep boat, the Girl's Novice 4+ placed 15th in their time trial. “Ali Schwartz, Lauren Barrison, Maura Watson, Alexandra Panichello, and Rachel Johnson (cox) demonstrate an extraordinary attitude and mind-set, which is enhanced  each race by the team’s strong work ethic,” said the girls’ coach.

Also on Saturday, the Girls’ JV 4+, made up of Rachel Johnson, Rafaela Giampaolo, Bonnie Rogers, Lia Wertheimer, and Christina Niedermayer (cox), rowed two stellar races. The team placed 6th and advanced to the finals, where the girls took 3rd place overall.

The Girls’ Varsity 4+ of Alicia Weigel, Jenny Colgan, Ali Thaler, Allison Green, and Alice Bosley (cox) also rowed a remarkable race, walking through five boats in the time trial to take 5th place. Also advancing to the finals, they rowed to an overall 3rd place finish, coming within 4 seconds of the 1st place boat. Both the Junior Varsity and Varsity boats are showing strong potential for the rest of the season.

On Sunday, April 29 both the Girls’ Novice and Varsity2 teams fielded boats in the William and Sarah Cooper Cup.

Rowing to a 2nd place finish, the Novice 8+ , made up of Natalie Molta, Louisa Raymond, Morgane Hayes, Maddie Krick, Hannah Scott, Audrey Allen, Maura Watson, Nikki Sullivan, and Ali Schwartz (cox), persevered through tough competition and winds for their strongest finish yet this season. “Every race presents its challenges, but nothing stops these girls from competing at their full potential,” said the girls’ coach.

The Girls’ Varsity 2 finished 3rd in their time trial. Charlie Thompson and Jenny Sullivan (bow) advanced to the final, utilizing their years of experience and dedication to row strong, fast boats and take 3rd place overall.