Exeter, NH (June 19, 2009)—Phillips Exeter Academy girls first boat captured silver at the 2009 USRowing Youth National Championship regatta last weekend, coming in four seconds behind first-place Marin Rowing Association from Greenbrae, CA. The second-place win is the highest award achieved at the national level for an Exeter girls boat in 36 years, since the inception of the girls crew program in 1973. The win also ties the record for the highest award won at the national level for any New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (NEIRA) girls crew.

The regatta took place at Lake Harsha, east of Cincinnati, OH, and brought together the top rowers from each region of the United States in all boat categories, including 24 girls eights (G8). The girls eights had to place in the top three in one of four heats to qualify—Exeter placed second—then in the top two spots at the semifinals to qualify for the grand final, where Exeter placed second. The top two boats from each semifinal competed in the grand final, where Exeter finished in 6:45:05.

The racecourse is 2,000 meters, 500 meters longer than Exeter’s regular New England races. The girls trained for an extra week after graduation, and became the most successful for Exeter’s G8 crew in the nation’s most competitive youth regatta. The G8 crew team at the Nationals included: 

Coxswain Katie Courtin ’09 (co-captain), of Buffalo, NY; Stroke Devi Lockwood ’10, of Ridgefield, CT; 7 Ariana Wakeman ’09, of Exeter, NH; 6 Abigail Loucks ’10, of Dover, NH; 5 Katherine Burd ’10, of Concord, MA; 4 Grace Cassidy ’10, of New Fairfield, CT; 3 Louise Breen ’10, of North Hampton, NH; 2 Erin Metcalf ’09, of Knoxville, TN; Bow Tamar Nisbett ’10 (co-captain), of Brooklyn, NY; Alternate: Nellie Peyton ’10, of Charlottesville, VA; and Coach Sally Morris and Boatman Keith Hereford.

“The girls are exceptionally focused, determined, intelligent and selfless athletes, and they enjoyed a combination of belief in each other with a commitment to excellence in everything that they do. Their teamwork enabled them to make three firsts in Exeter rowing history: set a new course record at St. Paul’s, sweep the New Englands in two consecutive years, and win a silver medal at the Nationals with only one rower returning from the 2008 crew. They have wiped the phrase ‘building year’ from my vocabulary,” Morris says.

A complete list of upcoming events is available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at 603-777-4309 and on our website. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call 603-777-4330. To learn more about upcoming events at Exeter, check the website’s News & Events section or PEA Athletics.

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