The Ridgewood Crew boys team won the ‘fastest boat’ at the New Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships, taking home the 2025 Haddon Hammer trophy. (Photo credits: Boris Roque-Alvarez)
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Westmont NJ, Ridgewood Crew showed off both its speed and depth on Sunday at the 2025 Haddon Hammer, earning five individual medals across four races while the boys team took home the overall ‘fastest boat’ trophy. Also billed as the New Jersey Indoor Rowing Championships, Sunday’s event at Haddon Township High School featured 254 youth athletes from 14 different clubs across the state and represented the culmination of a highly successful winter erg season for Ridgewood.
Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez, emphasized the standout performances from every level of the team. “So many of our girls and boys’ rowers, from seniors to first-year novices, set personal records today, which just shows how much hard work and focus they have put in the past few months on the ergs,” he said. “Winning the Haddon Hammer trophy is a perfect way to wrap up the winter because it’s about individuals contributing to a team result. It’s a great transition to our spring season rowing together on the water.”
But this team win was by no means easy. To compete for the Hammer trophy, each team had to choose its two best individual 2,000-meter erg times across four different rower categories: freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior. The team with the lowest overall time from these 10 racers was the winner. In the end, the Ridgewood boys eked out their victory over host Haddon Township Rowing by just 0.4 seconds
Setting the tone early, Ridgewood Crew’s top overall performance of the day came in the second event, the Mens Junior Novice 2,000-meter race. There, it scored two medals and placed three racers in the top five. Freshmen Graham Richardson (6:48.5) and Kai Bissie (6:58.6) pulled their way to silver and bronze medals. The same pair had shared the podium last year as well, coming in first and second, respectively, at the 2024 Haddon Hammer Mens Middle School 1,000-meter race.
Fellow 9th-grader David Pasternak came in fifth in the Mens Junior Novice race (7:02.3).
The Mens Junior Lightweight 2,000-meter event was a nail-biter, with less than three seconds separating first and third places. Ultimately, Ridgewood junior Luciano Saladino powered his way through to the finish with a new personal record, taking home the silver (6:54.2). Notably, his time on Sunday represented a nearly 30-second drop from his performance in this same race in 2024, where he came in 15th.
Also pulling a personal best, junior James Ryan finished seventh in the Mens Junior Lightweight race (7:07.6).
Fellow Ridgewood junior Ilaria Cupi nabbed a top five finish in the Womens Junior Novice race (8:29.9), and her teammates junior Maya Ashwin (8:21.6) and senior Julia Smith (8:30.5) came in eighth and 10th, respectively, in the Womens Lightweight 2,000-meter race.
The Womens Middle School 1,000-meter race saw three Ridgewood rowers finish in the top seven. Lucia Krauza (4:02.8) and Courtney Spence (4:15.8) came in back to back, taking sixth and seventh place. Fellow eighth grader Jaya Suri just missed the podium by less than a second, with a fourth-place finish (3:57.1). Suri had come in seventh in this same race in 2024 as a seventh grader.
In another tightly knotted podium finish, Ridgewood eighth grader Graham Glidden took home the bronze in the Mens Middle School race thanks to a personal best (3:44.5). Once again, less than three seconds separated the top three rowers.
The final youth race of the day, the Mens Junior Open 2,000-meter event, was also the biggest, with 53 competitors. Ridgewood junior Will Nasr and Alberto Grossetti of Seton Hall Prep quickly pulled away from the pack to duel for the gold. After the latter raced out to a sizable lead thanks to a blistering early pace, Ridgewood’s fastest rower slowly began reeling him back in during the last half of the race. With a few hundred meters to go, Nasr had pulled to within a few seconds, but could get no closer. Grossetti won (6:12.4), but Nasr’s final time was still a scorching Ridgewood Crew erg score record and personal best (6:15.0).
Nasr’s silver medal also marked his fourth consecutive year on the podium at the Haddon Hammer. He had taken first in the 2022 Mens Middle School race, the 2023 Mens Junior Novice race, and was the reigning champion in Mens Junior Open event coming into Sunday.
Ridgewood senior Lucas Evers pulled his best-ever 2,000-meter erg time on Sunday as well, finishing in a tie for seventh (6:38.8) in the Mens Junior Open event. Hot on his heels was sophomore Tristan Riedel, who came in ninth (6:40.1).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2024 Haddon Hammer can be found at https://rccdn.cachefly.net/results/9052_5efc043b-176b-44e0-927f-8a7f8b8a9a02.pdf.
About Ridgewood Crew
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.
