May 8, 2025 by JP Powers, Photos by Pete Owens, Brian Smith, and Abi Kornet
The three strongest public rowing programs in Massachusetts for the past several years have been Hingham, Duxbury, and Brookline. This past Sunday in Fall River, defending State Champion Hingham sent a strong signal to their rivals that they aren’t ready to relinquish their crown any time soon. While several Hingham rowers were battling illnesses on race day, they gamely answered the bell and put up tremendous efforts. With strong southeasterly wind gusts providing a bit of a tailwind and temperatures in the mid-40s at race time, conditions were challenging, but great for a fun day on the water.
In the day’s first race, the boys third varsity boat, with coxswain Jordan Brown, stroke Liam Connolly, Seph Darlington, Will Whitrap, Martin Seggev, Liam Govoni, Ben Hansmire, Aeden Sullivan, and bow Jack O’Leary, found themselves slightly behind their Duxbury counterparts and even with Brookline after the first 500 meters. Digging deep, the Hingham boys overpowered both boats as they walked on both boats at every stroke, powering well past Brookline and into a dead even race with Duxbury. As they neared the finish, the Hingham boys found just a tiny bit more power and speed, hitting the line exactly a second before Duxbury, and a few boat lengths in front of Brookline.
The day’s second race featured the girls third varsity, with coxswain Shauna Arseneau, stroke Stella Gutierrez, Eme Bias, Veronica Webb, Anne Sargent, Taylor Sargent, Hayley Kost, Elsie Olin, and bow Eve O’Sullivan, comprising a terrific mix of talent and power. After a decent start, the Hingham girls found a great rhythm and never looked back, finishing a couple of boat lengths ahead of both of their competitors in a very impressive early season showing. Knowing that they will likely see these same boats again at the state championships, Coach Pat Houle was glad that the girls didn’t back down from the challenge, “The girls’ third varsity stayed calm and composed, launching out of the start in second place. They trusted their fitness and determination to gradually reel Brookline back in. With every power ten, they pushed harder, rowed through the competition, and eventually surged ahead, opening up a commanding boat-length lead and making a statement to the entire field.”
The next race featured the boys first varsity, with coxswain Lucas Mangili, stroke Sam Ackerman, Arlo Maxwell, Will Barry, Lachlan Knies, Slater Fairfield, Oliver McLucas, Hanley Stroka, and bow Nicholas Mangili, against two very strong rivals. Battling hard all the way, the boys found themselves in a small early deficit. With a tremendous late surge, the boys managed to overtake the Brookline boat, hitting the line just over a second in front of their rivals, and demonstrating fantastic conditioning and determination. Coach Sarah Dewey was proud of the way the boys in all the boats overcame obstacles to obtain their results, “We are all incredibly proud of the effort our team put forth on Sunday. While we had a fantastic training week over spring break, many of our rowers have been quite ill this past week as various viruses ripped through the team. Compounding that disruption of lineups has been the extremely windy, often unrowable conditions; in spite of these very real challenges, our boys rallied to the best of their abilities and gave a supercharged performance we can all feel good about.”
Next up, the girls first varsity, with coxswain Emily Gu, stroke Sophia Santarelli, Thea Migliaccio, Maeve Schnorr, Eliza Powers, Louisa Orth, Natalie Shaw, Ava Sugrue, and bow Nayah Ryan, once again found themselves locked in a tight battle with their fierce rivals. While the Brookline boat was able to turn a fast start into a significant lead, with open water between themselves and the other boats, Hingham found themselves locked in a tight duel with Duxbury. As both boats pressed ahead, Duxbury was able to pull ahead by a small margin, hitting the line a couple of seconds ahead, in what was likely a warmup for their eventual showdown at states in a few weeks. Coach Sydney Blasetti is looking forward to continued growth in the boat, “Our 1V stayed right with the other crews through the first part of the race and finished just three seconds behind Duxbury. They’ve got the potential, we see it every day at practice. Now it’s about channeling that into every stroke on race day. I’m excited to see what they do with the rest of the season.”
The next race featured the boys second varsity, with coxswain Brent Strauss, stroke Owen Cerrato, Landy Vittorini, Brendan Engel, Hector Munoz, Spencer Farish, Nate Bradl, Gerard Bottini, and bow Zakary Robbins. Getting off to an incredibly fast start, the Hingham boys began the race with almost an entire boat length lead. Eventually, Brookline fell off of the furious pace the Hingham boys set, while the Duxbury boat was able to close the gap and make for a very competitive ending. Ultimately, the Hingham boys showed incredible strength, holding their lead through the finish and beating their arch-rivals by just under a second in the action-packed final burst.
The girls second varsity, with coxswain Ginger Neihoff, stroke Maddy Kittinger, Bianca Kiley, Emme Beaudoin, Izzy Wagner, Lydia D’Arcy, Aubrey Fairfield, Coco Prohm, and bow Peyton Burke, submitted yet another stellar effort. After grabbing a quick lead, the Hingham girls poured on the speed and were never truly threatened by the other boats. By the halfway mark, they opened up a boat length gap on Brookline, and at least two boat lengths on Duxbury. In the end, they crossed the finish line with open water between themselves and Brookline, well ahead of Duxbury. Coach Blasetti believes that the girls are reaping the benefits of a lot of hard work, “I’m incredibly proud of our 2V. From the first stroke, they trusted each other, found their rhythm, and just took off. They created distance early and refused to give an inch back. It was such a powerful, united row, proof of how much heart and hard work they’ve poured into the season so far.”
In the next race, the boys fourth varsity, with coxswain Myles Figueroa, stroke Brendan Conroy, Huck Shaughnessy, Liam Govoni, Xavier Bogen, Sam Whitrap, Eugene Purtell, Hmood Al-Quthami, and bow Euan Chesney-Douglas, took on Duxbury’s fourth and fifth varsity boats. After a challenging start amidst strong wind gusts, the boys finally managed to get underway. The Hingham boys battled hard, demonstrating a lot of growth and skill as they acquitted themselves well. Coach Dave Deluliis was particularly proud of the boys’ progress, “We had some excellent results today, but our best races are yet to come. While all the coaches are pleased with the progress and the team’s performance in challenging conditions, there’s still much work to be done and improvements to be made.”
The final race of the day featured Hingham girls fourth varsity, with coxswain Ashley Sinkus, stroke Rose Lovendale, Violet Tysdal, Jane Betti, Ellie White, Abby Zimmerman, Megan Buckley, Anne Kyriss, and bow Abrielle Beaudoin, Hingham’s fifth varsity, with coxswain Lexi Messina, stroke Lauren Newth, Dania Thayer, Neve Brown, Celia McCarthy, Shelby Stroka, Ava Kelly, Lena Angel, and bow Paige Moore, and Hingham’s sixth varsity, with coxswain Octavia Atkins, Fiona Galvin, Leonie Eigenmann, Veronica Webb, Charlotte LeClair, Anna Rubel, Aliyah Blidner, Audrey Lambert, and bow Sasha Darmon, against Duxbury’s fourth varsity. Hingham’s fourth and fifth varsity boats, filled with powerful and experienced rowers, battled each other in a tight race for first place. Ultimately, the fourth varsity boat was able to find a little extra power at the end, nudging out the fifth varsity by just over a boat length.
Meanwhile, Hingham’s sixth varsity boat found themselves in a tightly-contested battle with Duxbury’s fourth varsity. With neither boat able to gain much of an advantage throughout the entire course, the race came down to a final sprint to the finish. In the end, the Duxbury boat was able to hit the line a fraction of a second before the Hingham entry, but it was an incredible display of tenacity and grit by the Hingham girls. Coach Pat Houle is excited about the deep talent pool Hingham crew is now fielding, “The fourth, fifth, and sixth varsity boats had a competitive race against Duxbury’s fourth boat. The fourth and fifth boats performed well, securing strong finishes at the top. The sixth boat, made up of several rowers competing in their first spring race, narrowly missed a third-place finish by just 0.8 seconds. They showed a lot of potential and will be a boat to keep an eye on over the next few weeks of competition!”
Next Sunday, the Hingham boys face off against St. John’s, St. John’s Prep, Andover, Tabor, and Exeter in Worcester, and on Sunday, both the boys and girls teams head up to Hooksett, NH to take on Bedford and Boston Latin.
Stroner every day! Way to go, Hingham!