The men’s and women’s crew teams competed in the Knecht Cup Regatta in Camden, New Jersey, this past weekend. Going up against 24 Division I varsity teams, both varsity four boats placed first.
Despite adverse weather conditions, the Leopards bested schools such as Lehigh University, Drexel University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Boston University and the University of Connecticut.
“We focus on rowing together as a crew, and that’s something that I believe is able to set us apart from other teams,” senior Aaron Sigmond-Warner said. “A lot of the teams we go up against in these varsity events have funding from their school’s athletic department and recruiting opportunities, which we don’t. So we have to rely on rowing well and being very tactical.”
Sigmond-Warner was joined by juniors Christo Maheras, Isaac Odell and Owen Baute, as well as sophomore coxswain Maddie Malone, in the gold medal boat.
Podium finishes did not stop there for the men. The boat added junior Duncan White, sophomore Christian Marlin and freshmen Andrew Drake and Patrick Mayer, alongside junior coxswain Ryan Comisky, to compete in the varsity eight event, where they snagged bronze. The novice men’s team also placed third.
“Our focus was just to execute our race plan like we did at practice, and just to grow our own race the best we could,” Sigmond-Warner said.
The women’s varsity four team also took home gold. The boat, made up of sophomore Ally Krogh, junior coxswain Bella Bursor and seniors Noni Lorentzen, Ellie Walsh and Ashleigh Anzevino, took first place by three seconds over Drexel in the final on Sunday.
“Coach does expect that the varsity women will place very well at most, if not all, of our regattas,” freshman Olivia Frank said. “I would just emphasize that they are crazy.”
Frank, who is a member of the novice team, placed fourth with her boat in the competition.
“We were just really focused on doing our best, rather than trying to necessarily beat the other competition,” said freshman June Morishige, who competed in her first race over the weekend. “We wanted to keep our head in the boat literally and also just our mental.”
Both the men’s and the women’s teams will look to carry the momentum into this weekend, where they will compete in the Kerr Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on April 18 to include the names of the coxswains.