At the 2025 Head of Passaic Regatta, Ridgewood won three out of the four doubles races it entered. Junior Maya Ashwin and freshman Jaya Suri claimed gold in the Womens High
School Varsity 2x race. Credit: Diva Yela
the staff the of Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Crew displayed its flexibility, determination, and perseverance at the annual Head of the Passaic Regatta (HOPR) in Lyndhurst, NJ, this past weekend, overcoming a last-minute date change and an, at times, highly challenging race course to score five victories and 10 overall podium finishes.
The first major obstacle for the 25th running of this regatta, co-hosted by the Passaic River Rowing Association and Nereid Boat Club, involved a major nor’easter that was forecast to hit on Sunday, the planned date of the race. To avoid cancelling the regatta, race organizers made the decision on Friday to shift the event forward to Saturday, a logistical hurdle that scrambled the plans of the 37 clubs and nearly 1,000 competitors set to race on the Passaic River’s 4,700-meter course.
Racing on the river on Saturday morning then presented yet another series of challenges, as a strong tidal surge sent a steady stream of debris up the race course until noon, making navigation difficult for everyone. Some boats sustained minor damage during the morning session and a handful, including Ridgewood’s Mens Varsity 4x entry, couldn’t complete their race.
“The schedule change and course conditions were a real test for us, especially since it was our first race of the fall season. But we rose to the moment,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “The race organizers at PRRA did a great job running a safe regatta under less-than-ideal circumstances, and we still saw standout performances from every level of the team, whether it was novices in their racing debut to experienced rowers who’ve been on the water for years.”
Sophomore Graham Richardson kicked off Ridgewood’s medal haul Saturday morning by cruising to victory in the Mens High School 1x event. Facing the largest field of competitors on the day — 23 other boats — and a steady upstream current with obstacles galore, Richardson won by more than 42 seconds (20:57.57).
Teammate Andii Onizhuk, fell just short of the podium in that singles race, finishing fourth (22:20.03).
Ridgewood almost pulled off a medal sweep in the Mens High School Second Varsity 4x event. A boat composed of the team’s lightweight senior rowers — Daniel Hept, Paul Hallowell, James Ryan, and Luciano Saladino — took first (16:57.62) in the race. Not far behind was another all-senior quad, Matt Moomjy, Andrii Onizhuk, Michael Shkop, and Uhmjoo Han, which came in second (17:28.34). Their silver medal came in spite of being among the river’s victims Saturday morning, as contact with a floating tree branch snapped one of Han’s oars as they neared the finish line. Just two seconds behind the bronze medal-winning entry, Ridgewood’s third Mens 2V 4x boat, with senior Oliver Ilin-Schneider, juniors Brendan Finucane and Atticus Smith, and sophomore David Pasternak, took fourth (18:05.70).
To start Ridgewood’s racing on Saturday afternoon, which saw the current flip directions and flush out much of the river debris, the duo of junior Maya Ashwin and freshman Jaya Suri took gold in the Womens High School Varsity 2x race (17:45.03). Their win was the first of the team’s impressive series of performances in doubles races — overall, Ridgewood won three of their four 2x events and nabbed five medals in total.
Freshman Lucia Krauza paired with sophomore Zurie Yela to bring home the silver in the Womens High School Second Varsity 2x event (18:58.22). Freshman teammate Courtney Spence and sophomore Nicole Manevich finished fourth in the 2V 2x race (19:37.42).
Among the Mens doubles races, senior Will Nasr and junior Tristan Riedel put down the regatta’s second-fastest time of the afternoon to claim gold in their High School Varsity 2x race (15:29.29). This marked a return to the top of the HOPR podium for Nasr, who placed second in this same event — and the Mens 8+ race — last year and who had won the regatta’s Mens singles race as a sophomore in 2023.
Ridgewood swept first place in the Mens High School Varsity and Second Varsity 2x races at the 2025 Head of Passaic Regatta. Here, the victorious varsity duo of senior Will Nasr (left) and junior Tristan Riedel (center left) pose with their gold medal-winning JV counterparts, sophomore Wesley Richardson (center right) and senior Matt Moomjy (right). Credit: John Nasr
Sophomore Wesley Richardson — making his racing debut — and senior Matt Moomjy continued Ridgewood’s winning ways in the doubles in the Mens High School Second Varsity 2x event. That duo set a blistering pace that would’ve earned them a silver medal in the varsity double race (15:58.98). Behind them, capturing the silver for Ridgewood (16:50.58), were sophomore David Pasternak and junior Atticus Smith.
Overall, Ridgewood placed five boats in this event’s top 10 finishers. And with his standout performance, Moomjy became the only rower on the team to bring home two medals on the day.
The team’s lone bronze medal at the HOPR was brought home in the Womens High School Novice 4x race. There, the foursome of junior Tinsley Loonam, sophomore Nicole Manevich, and freshman rowers Courtney Spence and Gracie Demercado came in third (19:22.60).
Novices on Ridgewood Crew’s Mens roster also performed well. The all-sophomore quad boat of George Rivkin, Conner Cinco, Matt Bason, and Alex Evers took second in the Mens High School Novice 4x race (16:10.22). Coming in fourth in the race was another Ridgewood boat, crewed by freshman Graham Glidden and Lincoln Boudreau, sophomore Luca Fisher, and junior Edward Amores (17:12.81).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2025 Head of the Passaic (https://crewtimer.com/regatta/r15097).In the program’s 20-plus years, Ridgewood Crew has competed and excelled in both national and international competitions and its athletes have attracted interest from top rowing colleges and universities around the country. Ridgewood Crew offers several ways for you to experience our mission: join the team, volunteer, or donate. Student athlete programs begin with Learn-To-Row for middle schoolers. For more information contact Ridgewood Crew at http://www.ridgewoodcrew.com.
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