As the weather is getting warmer and people are starting to take the tarps off their boats, the Guilford co-ed crew team is doing the same. As a squad rostered with plenty of motivated individuals this spring, the Grizzlies have their sights set on championship aspirations.

Head Coach Matthew Wilson is entering into his eighth season with the team, and he particularly admires his athletes’ ability to continue to fight and never give up. This was certainly something he saw on full display from his rowers in the first race of the season on April 20.

“The girls’ varsity eight defeated the Farmington girls’ varsity by one second. It was a closely contested race throughout, but the girls prevailed,” Wilson said. “The boys’ varsity eight was defeated by Farmington. The boys competed the entire race and lost a close one. Both the girls’ and boys’ boats rowed strong and competed from start to finish.”

Rowing is a sport that takes a lot of individual concentration and the coming together of several athletes to steer the ship in the right direction. In a literal and figurative sense, Guilford has four captains this spring captaining that ship. Mattea Jerbi (junior), Addison Smith (junior), George Fenollosa (senior), and Ryan Michna (senior) all contribute in their own ways to help the team stay focused, and they’ve all prioritized creating a family-like atmosphere with their peers.

“Speaking collectively about this year’s captains, each of them has done an amazing job building a positive culture on both the girls’ and boys’ teams,” Wilson said. “They are verbal when needed and lead by example when in their respective boats. They continue to emphasize to all rowers that each of them needs to come to practice and races with a positive attitude, focus 100% of the time, and give the extra effort to be successful.”

Last spring, both the girls’ and boys’ varsity eight boats ended their seasons on a high note at the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association Sprints Championship (CPSRASC) at Lake Waramaug. The boys finished with an overall 2-4 record, and the girls finished with an overall mark of 2-3.

Guilford has four teams that compete throughout the season, including girls’ varsity, girls’ novice, boys’ varsity, and boys’ novice. Wilson knows his squad has the recipe for success on all four boats, and the athletes certainly did their part to prepare themselves for the campaign.

“The girls’ and boys’ teams have the rowers and coxswains that they need to be successful this year. Over the winter and spring, the rowers have worked hard strengthening and conditioning themselves to improve their endurance and performance,” said Wilson. “They have worked on their individual methods and techniques that should help them be successful in each race/competition.”

The Grizzlies graduated six seniors from last year’s roster. This year, there are 12 returning girls and 14 returning boys. Wilson looks forward to seeing the veteran rowers continue to utilize their experience throughout the rest of the spring to ensure that everyone is working together and performing the right movements at the right time.

“Returning rowers are extremely important to novice rowers. The veterans can share their individual knowledge, experiences, and expectations when practicing and competing,” Wilson said. “Often novices are unsure of what they will encounter in a practice or race. Returning players can help to reduce the anxiousness and provide encouragement and the support needed. This year, the team has a number of returning rowers that the novices can seek out for support.”

There are several rowers Wilson is looking to produce consistently for Guilford, including seniors Cooper Formica, Michna, Fenollosa, George Wiley, and juniors Brianna Dang, Roxanna Dehghani, Kiera DiMartino, Tea Hawkes, Olivia Hwang, Jerbi, Kerinne Marinis, Tina Miller, and Smith. As much as they’ll be the top facilitators, it truly takes a full unified effort to come out on top.

“There are four senior boys who will be the top contributors on the boys’ team this year. They are all returning rowers who will provide leadership and experience with this year’s boys’ team,” said Wilson. “There are seven juniors who will be top contributors to the girls’ team’s success this year. Their experience and knowledge will be needed to help the team this season. Collectively, it will take the whole boat rowing in unison to help propel the team to success.”

As they move forward with the campaign, the Grizzlies will have to learn to navigate the waves without those key pieces they lost last year, and they will have to work as a team to adapt a new scheme.

“One of the biggest challenges the girls’ team will face this year is building on last year’s success with a young team. Last year, the team graduated multiple varsity girl rowers who had four years of knowledge and experience. The returning and novice rowers will need to step up to fill the seats they left,” said Wilson. “Also, the boys’ team graduated a number of experienced seniors. Veterans and novices will compete for seats in the boat. Replacing experience and knowledge in the boat is always a challenge.”

Although there may be some growing pains when it comes to getting the novice rowers up to speed, Wilson is still confident the athletes can reach their goals as a club while continuing to improve every day.

“The first goal is to be competitive in each race, regardless of the finish,” said Wilson. “Secondly, they have to work together as a team to be successful, not as individuals, but as a team. Thirdly, the goal is to win races. With all the time and effort put into practices, the goal is to win races. And lastly and most importantly, the goal is for both the boys’ and girls’ boats to make the finals of the Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Championship Regatta.”

Wilson is assisted by Ryan Schafer (eighth year, boys’ varsity boat/team), Lydia Staschke (seventh year, boys’ novice boat/team), Leo Freund (second year, novice girls’ boat/team), and Maggie Cooper (first year, boys’ novice boat/team).

The Grizzlies full team roster is comprised of varsity girls Cassandra Granata (senior), Sofie Shanbhag (senior), Dang, Dehghani, DiMartino, Hawkes, Jerbi, Marinis, Ava Meglio (junior), Miller, Smith, Anna Esplungues (sophomore), Leah Jackson (sophomore), and Annabelle Potter (sophomore).

The boys’ varsity team includes Fenollosa, Formica, Michna, Wiley, Tyler Case (junior), Alexander Cieplik (junior), Colton DeBoda (junior), John Lay (junior), Emir Metjahic (junior), Raymond Schmidt (junior), Raffaele Valentino (junior), Aaron Eagle (sophomore), Matthew Hwang (sophomore), and Robin Roberts (sophomore).

The novice girls’ team includes Kimberly Mendoza (junior), Ella Powell (sophomore), and freshman Rachel Brettman, Sophia Chicarilli, Talia Davidson, Gina Dong, Emily Jones, Catherine Joyce, Livians Knudson, Jayleen Raines, and Masa Toma.

The novice boys’ team roster has Logan Herbin (junior), Dylan Lai (sophomore), Tao Aiden Meyer (sophomore), Pradith (sophomore), and freshman George Adams, Trent DiMartino, Austin Holway, Austin LaFata, Sean Maurer, Jackson Perry, Leif Prokop, Sano Sirico, Galen Toyn, and Tyler Turner.

Grizzlies Coed Crew 2024 Schedule:

March 30: Girls’ Varsity 1-0, Boys’ Varsity 0-1 (vs. East Lyme)

April 17: Girls’ Varsity 0-1, Boys’ Varsity 0-1 (vs. Old Lyme)

April 20: Girls’ Varsity 1-0, Boys’ Varsity 0-1 (vs. Farmington)

April 28: Girls’ Varsity 1-0, Boys’ Varsity 1-0 (vs. E.O. Smith and Middletown)

Saturday, May 4: vs Avon and Stonington Lake Quonipaug at 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 19: Connecticut Public School Rowing Association Championships at Lake Waramaug-All Day event

Saturday, May 25: New Regional Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA