Montclair High School rowing comes home with large medal haul to cap spring season
The Montclair High School rowing team’s spring 2022 season is coming to an end, and what a showing it has been.
On the heels of winning four state championship titles at the Garden State Scholastic Championship Regatta on April 30 and sweeping the men’s points trophy, the Mounties did not slow down, winning medals at three championship regattas within the space of nine days while continuing their daily training regimen and meeting the demands of school.
Following their 61st state championship program win, they set their eyes on the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia, the oldest and largest global high school regatta, on May 20 and 21.
Competing against some of the fastest crews in the nation, eight out of 10 boats advanced to the finals, with the women’s JV8-plus and women’s freshman 8-plus bringing home silver in their respective categories.
The next day, May 22, the team returned to the Schuylkill River to compete in the Philadelphia City Championship Regatta, where they brought home championships in two categories, the men’s 2V8-plus and the women’s freshman 8-plus. The medals didn’t stop there — the men’s 1V8-plus, women’s JV8-plus and the men’s JV4-plus took silvers, with the women’s freshman 2x delivering the bronze.
Based on its strong performance in 2022, the team had eight boats qualify for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship on May 27 and 28, in Camden.
The Mounties rowed strong, competing against 150 high school rowing teams and over 470 boats; four of their eight boats advanced to the finals. In the end, it was a day for the Mounties women, as the women’s JV8-plus became SRAA national champions, beating Mt. St. Joseph’s by more than three seconds. The women’s V4-plus and women’s freshman 8-plus brought home bronzes.
Montclair head coach Jeremy Michalitsianos said, “It’s been wonderful to have the support from our parents at races for the first time since 2019. The results this year showed how resilient the team has been, and the success of both the men’s and women’s teams is a testament to their commitment to putting in the many hours of training that is needed to achieve success.
“The women’s JV8 becoming national schools champions was the culmination of dedicated athletes and coaches striving to be the best. I am very proud of all of our athletes and what we were able to achieve this year.”
While the regular season has concluded for the Mounties, the run continues for three of their 10 boats: the men’s 1V8-plus and 2V8-plus and the girls varsity 4-plus, which have qualified for the U.S. Rowing Association’s Youth National Championship Regatta in Sarasota, Florida, from June 8 to 12.
That event is considered the premier junior rowing competition in the United States and is expected to draw approximately 2,000 athletes representing more than 200 rowing clubs and high school teams from across the country, vying for titles across 18 boat categories. The championship is held at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota and has historically drawn upwards of 5,000-plus spectators.
The Montclair High School rowing team has a long legacy of winning national and international championships — a huge feat for a public high school rowing team, which competes in a landscape of prestigious, privately funded prep schools and clubs.
The program is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year and is led by a former Great Britain International rowing coaching duo, Michalitsianos and Lorna Rundle. Team members are consistently recruited into the most prestigious universities in the country every year.
In the 2022 class alone, team members were recruited by Dartmouth, George Washington, MIT, Skidmore and Tufts, while other members of the graduating class will attend Princeton, Syracuse, the University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, the University of Massachusetts and the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the fall.
To learn more about Montclair High School’s rowing team or to sign up for any of its rowing programs, including its summer Learn to Row camps, visit friendsofmontclairrowing.com.
From information submitted by Friends of Montclair Rowing.
Men’s 1V8 – Tripp Pitera, Gus Moore- Manakas, Xav Gagnon, Sam Welsh, Zack T
roeller, Colin Phariss, Aidan Brown, Lucas Young, Alex Stamas (cox)
Men’s 2V8 – Ezekiel Snyder, Salif Traore, George Harb, Nate Lowey, Seraj deCaires, Logan Bateman, Zaire Williams, Jonah Scher, Carly Knutzen (cox)
Women’s V4+ – Zoe Larkey, Samara Haynes, Bella Moreno, Emma Demefack, Maya Padberg (cox)
Women’s JV8 – Alex Gawler, Eliza Bender,
Eleanor Pitera, Sage Santora, Lillian Harb, Isabella Sena, Ella Loscalzo, Ella Algar, Maxine Guerra (cox)
Men’s JV4 – Jacob Kugelmass, Emerson Conk, Hayden Hummel, Luke Cronin, Avril Callanan (cox)
Women’s JV4 – Ella Makin, Sophia Reynolds, Olivia Langton, Catherine Davis, Katrina
Jumadiao (cox)
Boys freshman 8 – Dawson Chacon, Boden Pirkle, Zach Singer, Oscar D'Amato, Joseph Walker, Ian Mulcahy, Alek MacWilliams, Julian Leff, Avril Callanan (cox)
Women’s freshman 8 – Madeleine Young, Mia Gurtman, Ella Kondic, Olive Sterry, Ava Lane, Aurora Auld, Sonia Haynes, Isla Gladstone, Lyla Hedgepeth (cox)
Boys JV 2x – Eddie Burns, Zak Bentham
Women’s freshman 2x – Sabrina Satahoo- Riofrio, Kate March