LHS Crew Honored by the Lowell School Committee

The Lowell High School Crew Team, having been chosen to be part of the school department's "Spotlight on Excellence", was honored by the School Committee this week. The 33 athletes who won medals at the Fall State Championships attended, as well as several other athletes from the team, parents, and coaches. Coach Jen Bauer gave a brief overview of the team's history and accomplishments, and then introduced each rower.

Below is a copy of the memo each member of the school committee received:

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Lowell High School Crew. The first six years of the program were instrumental in setting the foundation for the success of the team. With the arrival of coaches Jennifer Campbell Bauer and Kendra Bauer in 2004, the team has experienced tremendous development. It has grown from 40 to over 100 athletes, the fleet of boats has doubled in size and we have become one of the premier public high school rowing teams in Massachusetts. In that time, the team has won 16 medals at the Massachusetts State Championships, including four State Champion titles for individual boats. Additionally, for the past two years the team has qualified a boat for USRowing Youth Nationals in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2006, Amber Zaptaka placed 9th in the country in the girls’ singles event. Last spring the boys’ varsity lightweight eight placed 16th overall.

Of the 53 seniors who have graduated over the past three years, 51 have gone on to college, and 2 have joined the military. Together, these student-athletes amassed over $2 million in athletic and academic scholarship offers. Fourteen of our alumni are now rowing at the collegiate level, including schools such as Bowdoin, Duquesne, Gonzaga, UMass Lowell, University of Rhode Island, Ithaca, North Park University, University of San Diego, Wesleyan, and Mass Maritime. Four of these athletes are competing at the NCAA Division I level.

We began this fall season rather untraditionally, with a six-mile hike in the Berkshires. Rowers, parents, coaches and alumni participated in the hike and raised $3500 for the National MS Society. This was done in solidarity with one of our own rowers, Ian Finn, who was diagnosed with MS last spring.

The racing season kicked off with a strong showing at the Textile River Regatta. Despite graduating 29 seniors this past spring, the crew team had its best performance ever. Sixty-nine teams from 10 different states traveled to Lowell to compete in the regatta, which was co-hosted by Lowell High School. LHS crew won six medals. The boys’ varsity heavyweight kicked off the day with a bronze medal, besting 22 other teams. The girls’ novice eight captured a silver medal. The mixed-eight, comprised of 4 varsity girls and 4 varsity boys, won a bronze medal. The boys’ varsity lightweight eight won a gold medal for the second year in a row, easily beating the second place finisher by over two minutes. The girls’ varsity lightweight eight took home a silver. Finally, senior Eddie Crockett snagged a silver medal in the men’s novice single. It was the most successful Textile Regatta in the history of the team, with Lowell rowers earning a total of 55 medals!

Two weeks later, 73 members of the team raced at the New Hampshire Championships, picking up several more medals. The most impressive performance of the day came from the boys' 1st varsity heavyweight eight which placed second out of 21 boats in the Junior Boys' Eight, earning a silver medal and losing only to Community Rowing of Boston. Less than two hours later, the boys climbed back into their boat to race in the Men's Open Eight event. Pitted against older collegiate and club teams, LHS captured the bronze medal, placing third behind MIT and UMass Amherst. On the girls' side, the 1st novice eight placed 2nd out of 18 boats, earning them the silver medal.

The next weekend the boys' varsity heavyweight eight raced in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. The yearly international event attracts over 8,600 competitors from 18 different countries, and 300,000 spectators line the banks of the Charles River during this two-day event. Racing in the Men’s Youth Eight event, LHS posted an impressive time of 16:19, placing 34th overall, just one minute out of first place and fourth among public high schools.

The last race of the season was the Massachusetts State Championships in Worcester, MA. Lowell High School had its best ever performance, winning 5 medals. The girls’ 1st novice eight took home the title of State Champions, winning a gold medal. The girls’ 1st varsity eight had an excellent showing as well, winning a bronze medal. The varsity boys showed a great depth, picking up a silver medal in the boys’ varsity eight and a bronze in the boys’ varsity four. Additionally, senior Vishnu Gollakota brought home a silver in the varsity single.

Overall it was a fantastic season, with LHS winning a total of 14 medals over four races. In addition, juniors Josiah Todd and Harry Finch broke school records in the 2,000m and 6,000m erg pieces. The team also fundraised enough money to purchase two new boats and sets of oars, putting us on par with the elite prep schools we often face. We look forward to our spring season with hope of continued success.

Head Coach/Boys Varsity: Jennifer Campbell Bauer
Girls Varsity: Kendra Bauer
Boys Novice: Robby Walters ‘05
Girls Novice: Steven Hall ‘05
Assistant Coach: Eric Walkup ‘07

Girls Novice Eight (Gold Medal) - Jaishri Atri, Jillian McDermott, Miranda Lutz, Erinn McLaughlin, Arianna Rogers, Ashley Price-Dyment, Liz Larocque, Aly Hall, Diana Nguyen

Boys Varsity Eight (Silver Medal) - Mike McKeon, Pat McInerney, Harry Finch, Josiah Todd, Kevin Jarvis, Eddie Crockett, Leo Tannheimer, Colin Creegan, Dan Burke

Varsity Single (Silver Medal) - Vishnu Gollakota

Boys Varsity Four (Bronze Medal) – Cameron Crockett, Nathan Montminy, Joe Larocque, Ian Finn, Dave Ducharme

Girls 1st Varsity Eight (Bronze Medal) – Natali Soto, Britney Reardon, LJ Howard, Katy Nowoswiat, Shaundra Shattuck, Kate Burgess, Kaitlin MacKenzie, Lauren Dubois, Jessica Burke