The Ridgewood Crew boys team won the ‘fastest boat’ team title at the New Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships for the second year in a row, taking home the 2026 Haddon Hammer trophy.
(Photo credits: Reed Richardson)
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ – Ridgewood Crew dominated the 2026 New Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships on Sunday, claiming the top spot in four of six juniors events and taking the overall fastest team title in the boys category. This event, also known as the Haddon Hammer, was hosted at Haddon Township High School and this year featured nearly 260 youth athletes from 14 different clubs across New Jersey, all racing on individual rowing machines. Ridgewood Crew fielded 39 athletes across middle and high school categories, making it the second-largest team to compete.
Sunday’s standout performer was Ridgewood senior Will Nasr, who pulled the fastest time of the day across all youth athletes while powering his way to a gold medal in the Men’s Junior Open 2,000-meter race (6:12.9). Nasr’s win also capped an unprecedented streak of medaling at the Haddon Hammer for five consecutive years — going back to his first appearance as an eight-grader in 2022 — which has never been done by another male athlete.
“It’s been a long winter for the team training indoors and they are eager to get back on the water, so for them to pull together and perform at this high level is very impressive,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “We really demonstrated the depth of our team today too. Beyond six podium finishes, we had so many rowers, male and female, placing in the top five and top ten of races. It’s this kind of broad commitment that will pay dividends later in the spring racing season.”
That consistency from novice to varsity racers was the key reason the Ridgewood boys took home the Hammer trophy for the second straight year. Though rowers all competed on their own and earned individual medals on Sunday, the boys and girls crews with the “fastest boat,” composed of the two quickest freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior racers, were given this team award.
Freshman rowers Jaya Suri and Lucia Krauza started off the day on a strong note for Ridgewood, taking first (7:43.8) and second (8:02.6), respectively, in the Women’s Junior Novice 2,000-meter race. Suri’s victory gave her a perfect, three-for-three winning record in indoor rowing races this season. Fellow ninth-grader Gracie Demercado also came in seventh (8:16.0).
The freshman duo of Jaya Suri (middle) and Lucia Krauza (left), pictured with Welsey Richdarson took gold and silver, respectively, in the Women’s Junior Novice 2,000-meter race at the 2026 New Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships.
(Photo credits: Heather Krauza)
Ridgewood completed the gold medal sweep in the Junior Novice races with sophomore Wesley Richardson’s commanding win in the Men’s category. From the outset, he set a pace that the field of 35 other rowers could not match, pulling away from everyone and cruising to a more than 30-second margin of victory (6:26.0).
Freshman Graham Glidden, who took home a bronze in the Haddon Hammer Middle School race last year, came in sixth in the Men’s Junior Novice race on Sunday (7:19.4). Novice sophomore Isaac Rentoul-Gins finished in ninth (7:23.4).
The Men’s Junior Lightweight 2,000-meter event proved to be Ridgewood’s most competitive event overall, as five of the team’s rowers finished in the top eight out of a field of 30. Senior Luciano Saladino led the way, taking home the gold on Sunday after narrowly missing out on first place by less than two seconds in this event a year ago (6:54.8). Fellow 12th-grader James Ryan spent the last 500 meters of the race locked in a fierce battle for the final two podium spots. Ultimately, Ryan claimed the bronze, finishing just half a second behind second place (6:58.4).
Rounding out Ridgewood’s other top finishers in the Junior Lightweight category were senior Paul Hallowell, who came in fifth (7:04.9), sophomore George Rivkin, who was just two seconds behind, in sixth (7:06.9), and 10th grader Alex Evers, in eighth (7:12.0)
Senior Maya Ashwin was the team’s top performer in the Women’s Junior Lightweight race, coming in fifth (8:04.6).
In the Women’s Middle School 1,000-meter race, Ridgewood’s Zoe Rosenbaum finished in the top half of the field of 13, coming in sixth (4:04.5), an impressive result for a seventh grader.
The final event of the day, the Men’s Junior Open, also showed off the team’s depth in a crowded field of 45 total competitors. After Nasr in first place, Ridgewood placed two rowers just seconds off of the podium: junior Tristan Riedel (6:29.4) and sophomore Graham Richardson (6:31.5) came in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Senior Andrii Onizhuk pulled into 10th with a personal best performance (6:35.4).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2026 Haddon Hammer can be found at https://rccdn.cachefly.net/results/9707_6e9fd80a-2c7e-4728-a1b6-bbd3e23cbeee.pdf.
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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