As the year draws to a close, IHS athletes are finishing up their spring seasons, and the Cascadilla Boat Club (CBC) varsity crew is proud to have had a fantastic one, full of great races and impressive finishes. At Section Championships on May 6, the team had an exciting first regatta of the spring. Competing against Liverpool, Syracuse, Fayetteville, and Baldwinsville crews, the CBC Girls Varsity Team took first place in both of their events: the Girls Senior 4+ and the Girls Junior 8+. The 4+ won the 1.5 kilometer race by a large margin of 13.2 seconds. Meanwhile, the 8+ won their race of the same distance by 19.9 seconds, and also finished faster than all of the Girls Senior 8+ teams racing that day. For the first race of the season, the wins brought a sense of pride to the team, and an excitement for State Championships the following weekend of May 13 and 14.
The team traveled to Saratoga Springs for the New York State Rowing Championships, where the scorching sun and high winds made for an exhausting two days. After an exciting forty-eight hours of racing, many came home ranking within the top ten in the state for their event. The weekend began with Elle Decatur ’23 racing the Women’s Varsity Single. After qualifying in the time trials for the finals, Decatur took sixth in the state, but won Gold as the top finisher for Scholastic Rowing, qualifying her for Scholastic Nationals. The next race of the day was the Men’s Varsity 8+, which qualified for the Petit Final, in which they placed fifth. The final Saturday race for CBC was the Women’s Varsity Double, where Sara Bellman ’24 and Graem Chiuten-Black ’23 made it to the Petit Final and placed fifth for the race.
The second day of racing at the State Championships was another great day for CBC. Alex Rachlinski ’24 and Sam Essner ’25 raced their Men’s Varsity Singles. Rachlinski qualified for the finals and placed sixth in the state, taking home Silver for Scholastic. Meanwhile, sixteen-year-old Essner was given fantastic racing experience with older rowers, and the team is excited to see his progression over the coming years in the Singles event. The Women’s Varsity 4+ was next that day, which qualified for the finals and came seventh in the state. The Women’s U17 8+ also made it to the finals, coming fifth in the state and taking Bronze as a Club boat. Finally, the Men’s Varsity Double, consisting of Jacob Merrill ’23 and Gabe Morris ’25, qualified for the Petit Final and ranked seventh for the race, finishing off an incredible State Championships experience for the varsity crew at CBC.
The team is looking forward to the final race of the season, the Pittsford Regatta, where they are expecting to close out the season with some strong finishes from the 1.2 kilometer race. At this regatta, boats race as many as three times—in the time trials, semifinals, and finals—in order to medal, with only the first- and second-placing boats receiving medals. With new lineups and more CBC boats racing than previously this season, the team is looking forward to an exciting weekend of fun and intense competition.
Edna Brown Photography
Katie Conolly