Ridgewood Crew Girls were pumped and ready to row, but the weather had other plans for them. From left to right Senior Anais Friedrich, Sophomore Ryan Mincey, Junior Aoife Ali, and Junior Julie Smith. (Photo Credit: Elsa Friedrich)
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Ridgewood Crew claimed five flight victories at a 4th Manny Flick / Horvat meet that ended early due to high winds and unsafe river conditions. Sunday’s 1500-meter racing event on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia was the fourth of a five-race series, where nearly 500 rowers from 80 clubs across the mid-Atlantic competed.
Though the day started mild and sunny, the weather deteriorated throughout the morning as increasingly gusty winds and strong currents buffeted the boats. With an even more ominous afternoon forecast, meet officials suspended racing after the last boys race at 1:30 p.m. As a result, no girls’ events took place.
“It’s deeply disappointing that the girls’ races were canceled due to the weather, as our female athletes were fully prepared to showcase their hard work and dedication,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “However, I am immensely proud of all our rowers who competed today under challenging conditions. Safety of all participants is paramount, and we look forward to seeing our entire team, including our dedicated female athletes, compete in future events,” said Ridgewood Crew .
The Boys Freshman 4x boat of Chris Liang, Atticus Smith, Andrew Segura, and Joshua Reynolds (5:55.520) began Ridgewood’s day with a third-place finish in their flight.
Moving into the JV races, junior Will Carroll (6:43.160) claimed his second flight win in as many weeks in the first race of the Boys JV 1x event. Carroll easily cruised to victory, beating out second place in his flight by more than 26 seconds. The JV 2x boat, stroked by sophomore Uhmjoo Han, also won its flight.
Ridgewood claimed another first-place finish in the first flight of the Boys JV 8+ race. That boat, of John Cavagnuolo, Michael Shkop, Gryphon Smith, Andrii Onizhuk, Erik Gregerson, Nicola Melarti, John Aguilar, Anthony Dezelan, and coxswain Mathias Nguyen Van-Duong (5:36.860), posted Ridgewood Crew’s fastest time of the day.
Ridgewood Crew’s Boys JV 8+ boat of John Cavagnuolo, Michael Shkop, Gryphon Smith, Andrii Onizhuk, Erik Gregerson, Nicola Melarti, John Aguilar, Anthony Dezelan, and coxswain Mathias Nguyen Van-Duong posted the team’s fastest time of the day while taking home a flight victory. (Photo Credit: Jae Han)
The Boys Varsity 2x races saw two Ridgewood boats win their respective flights. In the first race, sophomore Sam Scharfenberg and freshman Tristan Riedel (6:23.300) easily claimed victory, besting their race’s runner-up boat by nearly 18 seconds. Ridgewood’s second entry in the event, featuring junior Lucas Evers and sophomore Will Nasr (6:31.200) won their third-flight race by nearly 12 seconds.
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2024 4th Manny Flick / Horvat Series can be found at https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/results2/?job_id=8863&org_id=0.
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.
