After a one-year hiatus, the SRAA National Championship Regatta returned to the Cooper River on May 22–23 and the Haddonfield Crew Club maximized their home field advantage to produce some thrilling results over the weekend.
Eight Haddonfield boats entered the competition; four made it to the semi-finals, including the Men’s Varsity 2X, the Women’s Lightweight 8 and both the Men’s and Women’s JV8’s, who went on to compete in the finals.
The Women’s JV8 completed a strong season with a 4th place finish in the Grand Finals at Nationals, following a 4th place finish in the finals of the prestigious Stotesbury Regatta and a 3rd place finish in the finals of the Philadelphia City Championships, both of which took place on the Schuylkill River earlier in May. The boat was powered by Elina Kommedal, Mia Ippolito, Caroline Bolletino, Christine Castorino, Hannah Cooper, Kate Donohue, Kathleen Hohweiler, Abigail Bentley and Coxswain Emma Tranfalia.
After coming from behind to win their heat in the semi-final event on Saturday, the Men’s JV8 raced to a photo finish in the finals, coming in .1 seconds behind 1st place St. Edward’s (OH). It was a thrilling end to a terrific season and represented the first medal awarded to a Haddonfield men’s boat in the national competition. Earlier in May, the Haddonfield Men’s JV8 had achieved a 5th place finish in the finals at Stotesbury and 4th place in the finals at the City Championships. Oarsmen in the JV8 included Blaise Giangiulio, Luke Small, Max Levin, Alex Sperandio, Lachlan Mersky, Alex Fisher, Zack Ruggiero, Matt Schmitt and coxswain Owen Hart.
This was the last race of the season for Haddonfield Crew, but next year holds great promise for the team as it has nearly doubled in size over the past few years and has gained a premier reputation in the Philadelphia rowing community and beyond.
