At the 2024 Head of Passaic Regatta, juniors Daniel Hept and Luciano Saladino cruised to victory in the Mens High School 2nd Varsity 2x race. Credit: Maggie Dwyer
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, racing on its home river, Ridgewood Crew struck gold and brought home five medals in total at the 21st annual Head of the Passaic Regatta in Lyndhurst, New Jersey on October 13.
Ridgewood joined 32 other clubs and more than 350 total competitors racing on the 3,700-meter course at the HOPR, which was co-hosted by the Passaic River Rowing Association and Nereid Boat Club.
“Today, we had standout performances across all boat categories, from doubles to quads to eights. As we progress into the head racing season, the competition is getting tougher but the team is responding by rising to the challenge and pushing themselves to new levels of excellence,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “I’m proud of their determination and the way they’re coming together as a unit to face each race.”
As it did a week earlier at the Overpeck Fall Classic, Ridgewood saw most of its success in the two-person events. Juniors Daniel Hept and Luciano Saladino led the way, nabbing the team’s lone gold medal of the day. The pair cruised to victory in the Mens High School Second Varsity 2x race, outpacing the second-place team by nearly 45 seconds (15:58.37).
The team nearly pulled off a clean sweep of the medal stand in the Mens High School Varsity 2x event, where Ridgewood’s top boats finished second, third, and fourth. The boat of senior Lucas Evers and junior Will Nasr took silver (15:37.22), coming in less than eight seconds behind the winner. Junior Sam Scharfenberg and sophomore Tristan Riedel claimed bronze (15:44.07), while the duo of junior Uhmjoo Han and freshman Graham Richardson came in six seconds behind them (15:49.77).
Those same six athletes, joined by juniors Matt Moomjy and Michael Shkop, also rowed in Ridgewood’s first event of the day, the Mens High School Varsity 8+ race. Coxed by senior Caterina Kirchhoff-Lajonchere, the 8+ boat grabbed silver in a highly competitive race (11:09.31), where less than 19 seconds separated the first and fifth-place boats. Ridgewood’s second-place finish on Sunday served as a measure of revenge against its boathouse rival, Seton Hall Prep, whose time was just over three seconds slower. One week earlier at the Overpeck Fall Classic, Seton Hall Prep had taken home the silver, beating Ridgewood by nearly the same margin.
Ridgewood also brought home a silver medal in the Womens High School Novice 4x race (19:41.59). Freshman Zurie Yela and eighth grader Jaya Suri, who had won gold the previous week in a Novice 2x race, rowed to silver on Sunday in a bigger boat, partnering with sophomore Nicole Martino and eighth grader Courtney Spence.
Ridgewood won silver in the 2024 Head of the Passaic’s Womens High School Novice 4x race, with rowers sophomore Nicole Martino, freshman Zurie Yela, and eighth graders Jaya Suri and Courtney Spence. Credit: Diva Yela
Other notable races on Sunday included senior Julia Smith’s fourth-place finish in the Womens High School 1x race (15:24.67). And the Ridgewood boats in the Mens High School Varsity 4x event finished back to back, with the all-junior quad of Paul Hallowell, Daniel Hept, Oliver Ilin-Schneider, and James Ryan coming in fourth (12:10.31), and the boat of senior Will Carroll, junior Luciano Saladino, and freshmen David Pasternak and Kai Bissie taking fifth (12:19.87).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2024 Head of the Passaic (https://crewtimer.com/regatta/r13856).
In the program’s 20-year history, Ridgewood Crew rowers have 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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