BHS Men’s and Women’s Crew End Seasons
The Berkeley High crew team is well known for being an intense team to train and compete for, and this season was no exception. Their regular season has just come to a close after they competed in the Southwest Junior Regional Championships (“CJ’s”) on May 8 and 9 in Lake Natoma, which determines the boats that go to the Youth Nationals in Cincinnati. Daniel Remler, a junior on the crew team, says that throughout the season, the men’s crew team “has been very successful.” He adds that the team has been “winning the majority of races in regular league races” which are held between Northern California teams. At the championships, they competed against a much wider range of talent from schools throughout the Southwest.
During the competition, many boats did well against other highly competitive teams, and their hard training paid off when five of them managed to qualify for the finals. Two of the varsity boats were close to winning medals, but none of them made it. In addition to the competitive rowing, the weather stood as a challenge. The windy and rainy conditions on the second day of competition certainly were of no help.
Both the men’s and women’s teams competed admirably at CJ’s, but the only BHS boats that got into the finals were from the men’s team. Several just barely missed out on qualifying by placing third or fourth in their heat.
At the championships, four varsity boats and one freshman boat made it to the finals. The men’s lightweight 4+ (four rowers and a coxswain), one of the team’s top boats this year, placed third in their heat. Though they had dominated in their races against Northern California teams, their new competitors were tough competition, and in the finals, they missed third place by a mere two seconds. Instead, Newport won the gold medal.With two rowers handling one oar each, the BHS men’s pair placed into the finals with an easy second place in their heat. They competed against Long Beach for third place, but didn’t make it. Marin got first and second place in that race. The men’s double, in which two rowers use two oars each, finished fifth in their final race.
The women’s lightweight 4+ did well and improved from earlier in the season, but were out–competed by older and more experienced groups in their heats. Hopefully by next year, they will be more evenly matched due to their increased experience level. The women’s lightweight boat with eight rowers finished fourth in its heat, but had many freshmen and sophomores, so next year promises an even better outcome.
The men’s freshman eight-person shell qualified for the finals but then lost due to the breaking of their skeg, which the rudder is mounted on, so the boat couldn’t be steered. Although they didn’t to make it to nationals, the new freshmen on both the men’s and women’s teams show a lot of potential. Remler on the varsity team, who competed for the men’s 4+, says that “the new freshmen show a lot of promise”, and that he thinks they will be valuable assets to the team in the future. He attests that “if not for technical failures, [they] could have won a medal at the regional tournament”, and that “they did very well all season.”
Even as they are gaining new talent, Elle Holland, a member of the women’s team, says that the team is also “losing some of our star athletes as the seniors leave.” In addition to being amazing athletes, Remler adds that “this year’s captains Sam Shaw and Andre Briscoe have really helped lead the [men’s] team.”
Even though they will miss the graduating seniors, the BHS crew team is sure to have a great season next year. Remler is convinced that the team “has the potential to dominate the region and possibly the nation in the future.”
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