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Valley Crew Rowed its Way to an Excellent 2018 Campaign

The Valley Regional crew built upon its best year in program history in 2017 by making even more history during the spring of 2018. In their second year as independent crew, the Warriors showed their skills on the water and turned in some strong results at several regattas.

Valley’s best performance came at the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association’s (CPSRA) championship regatta at Lake Waramaug on May 20. After taking fourth place last spring, Valley finished third to win the Perry Trophy on the strength of several solid showings in boats of four that scored points for the Warriors.

Valley crew Head Coach John Laundon continues to be impressed by the Warriors’ progress since they’ve gotten their sea legs under them as an independent program. Laundon has seen an improvement every year and he felt the 2018 campaign was no different. In fact, he said it was the best one yet.

“We had our best record. We won medals that we hadn’t won before. Overall, it was by far our best season,” said Coach Laundon. “We used to use Old Lyme’s equipment at Rogers Lake. When we became independent last year, that was our best year and, this year, we were better than that.”

The Warriors saw several boats of four turn in top-three finishes at the CPSRA regatta. The girls’ first, second, and third boats all earned third place in their respective races, while the boys’ novice collected a third-place medal, as well.

The girls’ first boat of senior captain Electra Cassells, junior captain Emily Hutchinson, junior Tessa LeMay, sophomore Emma Carey, and junior coxswain Courtlin Siciginano posted a time of 6:07.1. The girls’ second boat of junior Kim Berardis, sophomore Iris Chirinos, freshman Aurora Courcy, freshman Emma Counter, and sophomore coxswain Awdri Carnelli clocked in at 6:33.2. Junior Allie Gilbert, junior Lily O’Neil, junior Sabrina Nucci, freshman Cara Milley, and freshman coxswain Ally Conroy finished at 7:05.3 in the girls’ third boat. The boys’ novice boat of junior Brady Ingram, freshmen Zach Gilbert, Evan Driscoll, Nathaniel Hill, and coxswain Kailey Costa recorded a time of 6:07.7.

All of these results helped propel the Warriors into a third-place finish at the regatta.

“In the Connecticut Public School Championships, they have a lot of boats with eight people. We’re mostly a four-boat team and, out of the nine schools that had fours, we had the third-best record at the public-school championship,” Laundon said. “That was one of the best indicators of how we were improving over years past.”

Much of Valley’s positive results this spring stemmed from the all of the offseason work that the Warriors’ rowers logged. On top of that, other Valley students were able to see the crew working with its rowing machines at the high school, thus piquing interest in the team.

“We now have rowing machines in the school where we work out during the winter. That kind of exposure helps bring new recruits into the program,” said Laundon, whose coaching staff included Renny Schoonmaker, Emily Powers, and Peter Charbonnier. “We had more people rowing on the water last summer and in the school in the wintertime. The more participation you get in the offseason, the better we are during the season. We can do better, though.”

One pivotal aspect of crew is the need for all the rowers in a boat to be completely in sync with each other. Valley’s team mostly consists of smaller boats of four, and no one rower can help the boat go any faster than another. The crew also competed in boats of eight.

“In other skill sports, you can have a player who is clearly better than everybody else,” Laundon said. “Crew is the ultimate team sport. You can’t isolate one person over the rest in the boat. Everybody who has a seat in the boat is as important as everyone else.”

With many long rides and plenty of work to be done to get boats in the water, Valley heavily relied upon the leadership of its captains this season. The crew’s captains, senior Electra Cassells and junior Emily Hutchinson, played a major role in keeping the Warriors on task, while also making sure that everyone was enjoying themselves. Both captains rowed in the team’s first boat and led the way in many races throughout the season. Coach Laundon appreciated what each of them brought to the squad, noting Cassells for the way she motivated her teammates.

“Electra helped keep those long rides fun with her upbeat attitude and sense of humor. She also helped her squad persevere through all the hard work, while keeping everyone’s spirits high in the grind of the season,” said Laundon. “She’s a character. She’s funny and kids love being around her.”

Hutchinson was the Warriors’ junior captain. While she brought more of a quiet demeanor to the team, Coach Laundon said that Hutchinson also proved a great leader for Valley. Hutchinson made Valley crew history when she and fellow junior Tessa LeMay competed in the first girls’ doubles race at the Saratoga Invitational Regatta in New York in late April.

“Emily was a leader by example. She was dedicated, very determined, and thorough. She was always helping to organize in a lot of ways,” Laundon said. “She just outstanding in so many areas—not just in the boat, but out of the boat, too.”

In the regatta at Saratoga, Emma Carey became the first rower to compete in a singles boat in Valley crew history. Also for Valley, juniors Kim Berardis and Brady Ingram earned the Heart of the Warrior Award this season. Laundon said both rowers both showed tremendous commitment to the program with the way trained and were always there for their teammates.

“The award is for the kids that are most well-rounded in terms of performance, attendance, teamwork, and commitment. They were just two outstanding kids. Kimberly was always looking for ways to make the boat or the team better. She was always there to help with the boats and put the oars in the trailer,” Laundon said. “Brady was a quiet kind of leader. You know when Brady was in the boat, you would get all that he had. He didn’t have to say anything. You just knew he was going to give you a complete effort. That kind of quiet demeanor can be infectious.”

The other members of the Valley crew included junior Chelsea Martinson; sophomores Sean Davis and Kelly Littler; and freshman Justin Bailey, Kyra Brennan, Carlee Burr, Natalie Burton, Grace Cohen, Ally Conroy, Ryce Libby, Katherine Morrissey, Jamie Pullin, and Celia Robbins.

With the Warriors on the upswing, Coach Laundon is excited to see what next season brings. It’s hard to predict what will happen from year to year, but Laundon has a good feeling that the Warriors are trending in the right direction. Next year, the squad will have its sights set on qualifying for the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) after coming up just short this season.

“I have no way of knowing what will happen next year, but the vibes are good, and we’ll probably have a slew of new kids next year the way our team performed this season,” Laundon said. “My goal would be to get boats into NEIRA next year. If boats qualify for the NEIRA championship, then you know you had a great season.”