Ridgewood scored one of its two silver medals at the 2026 Mercer Lake Sprints in the Womens U17 4x race. This runner-up quad was crewed by sophomores Nicole Manevich and Zurie Yela, along with freshmen Courtney Spence and Gracie Demercado. (Photo credits: Diva Yela)
By the end of the weekend, Ridgewood had amassed three medals and three more top five finishes at Mercer Lake, and claimed a first- and second-place finish in Philly.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
West Windsor, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Ridgewood Crew split its squad into two this past weekend, and rowed its way to simultaneous success in regattas in central New Jersey and in Philadelphia.
Nine Ridgewood boats went to the Mercer Lake Sprints competition on both Saturday and Sunday, where more than 700 entries from five-dozen teams across the mid-Atlantic and northeast competed on a 2,000-meter course. On Sunday, seven different crews from Ridgewood competed amongst a field of 480 boats and nearly 80 clubs in 1,500-meter sprint races, as part of the final installment of the Philadelphia Scholastic Racing Association’s Manny Flick spring racing series.
By the end of the weekend, Ridgewood had amassed three medals and three more top five finishes at Mercer Lake, and claimed a first- and second-place finish in Philly. That latter victory in Philly also helped the team come in third place overall in the spring points standings for the PSRA’s Horvat Trophy for boys’ sculling (CONFIRMED, final Horvat results here: https://phillyflicks.com/racing/psra-points-trophies/). This third place finish in the Horvat Series was the team’s best result since 2022.
“This is the second year in a row where we’ve divided up our team to compete at different races on the same weekend, and we couldn’t do it without all our talented and dedicated coaches and also support from the parents,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “It’s very complicated, but going to both regattas on the same weekend keeps up the momentum for the whole team. Our more seasoned sculling crews get a chance to compete against national-caliber teams at Mercer Lake, while our lightweight, JV, and sweeping boats can gain more race experience on the shorter, scholastic course at the Manny Flick.”
“It was great to see the rowers give it their all in Philly and have a chance to contribute to the team’s overall success,” said Coach Bob O’Connor, who led the team at the Manny Flick race.
Ridgewood’s only victory across the weekend came in the Boys Gig/Novice 1x race in Philadelphia, where freshman Graham Glidden handily won his race by more than half a minute for the second time in as many weeks (6:18).
One of the two Ridgewood sweeping boats racing at the Manny Flicks on Sunday finished at the runner-up in their flight of the Boys Lightweight 4+ event (5:32). The boat was crewed by seniors Paul Hallowell and Daniel Hept, sophomores Isaac Reynolds and Alex Evers, and coxed by sophomore Sam Rizzo.
The all-junior duo of Atticus Smith and Gabe Dozortsev finished fourth in the Manny Flicks’ Boys JV 2x race (5:33) against a field of 21 boats. Ninth graders Lincoln Boudreau, Marko Granzan, Anderson Cho, and Jun Lee also came in fourth in that regatta’s Boys Freshman 4x race (6:06).
At the Mercer Lake Sprints, the team got its first medal of the regatta on Saturday, when sophomores Nicole Manevich and Zurie Yela, along with freshmen Courtney Spence and Gracie Demercado finished second in their flight of the Womens U17 4x race (8:58).
After a strong third-place finish in its heat race on Saturday, the team’s Mens 2nd Varsity 4x boat crewed by junior Brendan Finucane, and sophomores David Pasternak, George Rivkin, and Kai Bissie came back in Sunday’s final and took care of business, claiming the bronze (6:41).
The team’s Mens Varsity 4x boat just missed the podium in its medal race, which featured a clash of several highly experienced crews that are projected to reach the A final at Youth Nationals later this spring. After winning their heat on Saturday, sophomores Graham and Wesley Richardson, junior Tristan Riedel, and senior Will Nasr ultimately pushed across the finish line on Sunday in fourth, a mere .6 seconds behind the third-place boat (6:21).
Ninth-grader Jaya Suri likewise fell just short of reaching the podium in the Womens Varsity 1x race, but delivered a brilliant performance nonetheless. Facing a field of 32 other rowers in the Saturday time trial, she easily advanced to the event’s A final on Sunday with the third-fastest time on the day. Her overall fourth-place finish on Sunday was notable in that the 15-year-old freshman was only bested by three 18-year-old seniors, one of whom was on the roster of the 2025 US Rowing U19 World Championships team (8:26).
Ridgewood managed to double up in the medal race of the Mens Varsity 2x event. Against a Saturday time trial field featuring 28 boats in total, the team’s two crews in the event both raced their way into Sunday’s A final. The senior duo of Luciano Saladino and James Ryan ultimately took home the silver, finishing with clear water between them and the third-place boat (7:03). Coming in just seven seconds behind their teammates, in fourth place overall, was the all-senior crew of Michael Shkop and Matt Moomjy (7:10).
Ridgewood seniors James Ryan (right) and Luciano Saladino took second overall in the Mens Varsity 2x race at the 2026 Mercer Lake Sprints regatta in West Windsor, New Jersey.(Photo Credit: Jimmy Saladino)
The duo of senior Maya Ashwin and freshman Lucia Krauza finished ninth out of 26 boats in Saturday’s time trial of the Womens Varsity 2x event, qualifying them for the B final on Sunday. In that final race, the pair powered their way to victory, for eighth place overall, beating the runner-up boat by open water (8:05).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2026 Mercer Lake Sprints can be found at https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/results2?job_id=10129&org_id=0 and for the 2026 5th Manny Flick at https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/results2?job_id=10200&org_id=0.
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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