Arlington’s long and proud history in high-school crew was embellished at this spring’s second weekend of the state-champion regatta.
That’s when two varsity eight girls and boys shells from Arlington schools finished first in the premier races at the Virginia Scholastic Rowing Association competition on the Occoquan Reservoir.
The Wakefield Warriors won the girls race for the fifth straight season, finishing in a time of 5:28. Then in the final race of the regatta, the Yorktown Patriots won the boys varsity eight in 4:54.8, the shell’s first such championship since 2009.
Yorktown was fourth in that race each of the last two years.
The Wakefield girls are the first shell to win five straight state meets since the 1980s.
Wakefield coach Russell Topp said the varsity eight raced well in the state despite some hiccups leading up to the event. A number of rowers fell ill, another was injured after an escalator fall and it was prom night the evening before the state regatta.
“It was kind of a disaster there and brought some uncertainty. But they all got better and we had some good practices leading up to the race,” Topp told ARLnow.
The Wakefield shell consisted of coxswain Riley Gaul and rowers Mira Meek, Amelie Przystawik, Anna Duall, Isabelle Young-Smith, Annabel Bender, Emory Loughry, Mia Kim and Siena-Kaya Nesmith.
Six returned from last season varsity eight. “I knew we would be in position to be dominant this season,” Topp said.
For the Yorktown boys, seven in the shell were in that eight last year. This season’s coxswain was Matthew Gaull. The rowers were stroke Lachlan Vaughn along with Eliot Koide, Josh Gill, Thomas Totten, Noah Starck, Declan Leighton, Fedir Melnyk and Isaac Scheller.
The nine include just two seniors, so Yorktown should be a favorite to defend its title next spring.
“These guys wanted this result really badly and that shined through every day,” Yorktown coach Brian O’Rourke said. “We knew they had the potential to win, but it took a lot of hard work, patience, disappointment and trust in order to realize that potential.”
Also in the state regatta, Wakefield’s boys varsity eight finished fourth with Washington-Liberty sixth. Yorktown was fourth in the girls varsity eight race.
Yorktown’s girls junior four won in 6:49 with Wakefield sixth.
In the boys second eight race, Wakefield was second and Yorktown third. Wakefield was second in the girls second eight.
Still left on the schedule for the Arlington crew teams are the annual Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia, followed by the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s National Championship Regatta in New Jersey.
