Exeter crew competes at historic Head of the Charles

Strong performances highlight Big Red's weekend at the world's largest regatta. 

By
Brian Muldoon
October 23, 2019
Exeter crew hits the Squamscott River for early-season training.

This past weekend was an exciting one for Exeter Crew, as select boats from both the boys and girls programs traveled an hour south to join in on the sport’s largest regatta in the world at the 56th annual Head of the Charles. More than 11,000 participants and even more spectators flock to the banks of the Charles River for a two-day event featuring elite rowing competition and celebration.

“The atmosphere is fantastic,” said Exeter boys crew head coach Albert Leger. “One boat starts every ten seconds for two days of racing. Everything that is associated with crew – shells, oars, rowing machines, new applications – is all there so it is fun for the athletes to walk around and see what is going on with the sport. There are tens of thousands of spectators walking around cheering on rowers, boats try to pass, oars clash…there’s a lot going on! It is the greatest display of the sport, the ultimate celebration of rowing.”

All three of Exeter’s boats performed well on Saturday and all requalified for competition at the regatta next year. Addie Luce ’21, Nina Weeldreyer ’21, Amelia Demopoulos ’20, Shelagh Coombs ’20 and coxswain Katya Davis ’20 teamed up in the Girls 4+ race and finished 12th overall out of 85 crews. The Girls 8+ and Boys 4+ boats also finished in the top half of their competition on the day in what was nearly perfect conditions for racing.

 

 

Big Red review

Abby Smith tucked a shot from the top of the box inside the right post late in the first half to provide girls varsity soccer with the only scoring they would need in a 1-0 victory over Deerfield last Saturday. The win marks the second in a row after topping Kimball Union 1-0 last Wednesday. The girls JV soccer team has also been on a roll, as they outscored KUA and Deerfield by a combined 12-0 mark as they picked up their eighth straight victory as they improved to 9-0-2 on the season.

The boys and girls cross country teams made it a clean sweep at Deerfield on Saturday as the both varsity and JV teams gathered wins on the Green’s home turf. All four teams are now 2-0 in dual meets and will aim to stay that way on Saturday when they welcome St. Paul’s School to Exeter.

Speaking of being unbeaten, girls varsity volleyball is still navigating the season unblemished following a pair of wins last weekend. Big Red opened the week with a 3-1 victory on the road at Andover before topping Deerfield 3-1 on Saturday to improve to a perfect 12-0. While ten of Exeter’s 12 matches have been on the road thus far, Big Red will settle in at Love Gym for four of their final five regular season tilts.

Boys varsity soccer captured a victory in thrilling fashion last Wednesday over Bridgton Academy to kick off an unbeaten week for Big Red. With just minutes remaining in a scoreless draw, goalkeeper Matthew Chen stopped a Bridgton breakaway bid to keep the match even. Moments later Big Red would break the tie when Finn O’Brien would bury a header off a Jack Burgess corner kick with just thirty seconds remaining to lift Exeter to the 1-0 win. Boys JV soccer also enjoyed an 1-0-1 week with a 1-0 victory over Exeter HS before playing to a 0-0 draw at Deerfield.

 

 

Football dropped a 28-0 decision to a talented Deerfield squad on Saturday. Big Red will regroup with a bye week this week before traveling to Avon Old Farms on November 2.

Jill Cloonan found the back of the net twice while Eden Welch, Sophia Rosati, Ellie Griffin, and Taylor Nelson each scored once to provide varsity field hockey with their second straight victory, a 6-0 win over Tilton last Wednesday. Big Red failed to run their streak to three wins as they stumbled to a 4-0 defeat on the road at Brooks. Girls JV field hockey has been pumping out W’s and captured their fourth straight win with a 3-1 win at Brooks on Saturday. Big Red has outscored their opponents by an 11-1 margin in their last four games.

Alumni in the news

Sterling Weatherbie ’15, a 2019 Tufts University graduate, was honored by the Jumbos Athletic Department as he was presented with the Rudolph J. Fobert Award in a ceremony last Friday night on the Tufts Campus. The Fobert Award is an award honoring athletic and academic excellence in the Tufts community.

“Weatherbie was a stalwart defender and team leader as co-captain for the undefeated men’s soccer team which won its third NCAA championship in the past five seasons. Named the New England Soccer Journal Player of the Year for DIII, he was also voted Defensive MVP at the NCAA “Final Four” and was an All-NESCAC and United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection. Weatherbie graduated last May with a degree in economics after earning a 3.60 grade point average. He achieved a perfect 4.0 in the spring 2019 semester. A Dean’s List student for all eight semesters, he was a three-time NESCAC All-Academic team member.”