By almost anyone’s measuring stick, the Londonderry High School crew club enjoyed a successful first year during the recently-completed 2015-16 school year. And the Lancers finished off that inaugural campaign with some superb showings this spring.
Led by coaches Brenda Balenger from Row America in Manchester and Jason Moskowicz, the LHS contingent completed the spring campaign with about 33 rowers after having approximately that same number during the fall season.
Speaking of the spring season specifically, team media liaison Carolyn Brown said, “We attended multiple regattas over the past few months, medaling in all that we attended.”
The Lancers took part in events in Lowell, Mass., Hanover, NH, and at their home Lake Massabesic in Manchester where the locals also held their practice sessions along with members of Pinkerton Academy’s crew club.
The Lancers held an “erg-a-thon” during May at the Mall of New Hampshire in the Queen City, raising funds to support the team’s future endeavors. A pretty stunning 250,951 total meters were rowed by the team in just a few short hours at that special event.
“This is a co-ed team, which saw much success and improvement over the year,” said Brown. “Many teams improved times by significant amounts from first to last races.”
Among the Lancer crew athletes’ biggest performances was the one put in by the ladies’ Novice 4 team, which claimed a bronze medal for its fine efforts at the Hanover Invitational Sleigh Cup in early June. The members of that group were Laura Doherty, Shannon Siders, Lilly Carlson, Zannie Moskai, and Anna Loginov.
“They were amazing, shaving 11 seconds off of their finals time,” said Brown.
The other members of the spring LHS crew club were Brennon Berard, Chance Broderick, Kevin Brown, Nick Byrne, Aidan Crowley, Ethan Cunningham, Kiara Dedier, Ashlie Dodge, Harry Feig, Drew Gruchot, Courtney Johnston, Andrew Kilgus, Gabrielle L’Heureux, Meghan Lee, Ryan LeGrow, Maegan Nadeau, Laura Nolan, Sam Palumbo, Emily Parnell, Brian Parrott, Connor Phillips, Heather Ricker, Kelley Roberts, Anna Sampson, Santy Sanchez, Negeib Usmani, Sara Vilela, and Josh Stambach.
The locals will be holding camps over the summer months to continue their strength and conditioning regimens in aiming at still more success this coming fall.