Medals, records and rivalry caps spring sports season
Girls crew collects Big Red's ninth New England title of the year while Exeter and Andover meet to put a bow on 2024.
Next stop: Nationals! The girls first boat captured a gold medal at the NEIRA Regatta to qualify for U.S. Championships.
Gold medals, record-breaking performances and a rekindling of the nation’s oldest rivalry put the bow on a highly successful spring season for Big Red.
The Exeter girls first boat punched its ticket to nationals with a first-place finish in the grand final on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon — Big Red athletics' ninth New England crown this year.
Ava Cathey ’25, Evie Gaylord ’25, Sophia Turner ’25, Ellie Ana Sperantsas ’24, Sophia Slosek ’25, Chloe Bosma ’26, Edie Fisher ’24, Amelia Post ’26 and cox Jane Park ’24 won their opening heat race in blazing fashion, coming in at 5:10.559 — second in the heats only to Deerfield, which won its respective heat with a time of 5:10.080.
In the grand final, Big Red left no doubt, crossing the line three seconds ahead of Deerfield with a time of 5:14.029. This is the second title in the last three years for Big Red, as they also claimed first overall in the 2022 season. With the victory, Exeter qualified for the U.S. Rowing Championships, which will be held in Sarasota, Florida, starting June 6.
The girls first boat was not the only one putting forth a strong performance on the water as the girls second boat placed third overall and the girls third boat earned a sixth-place finish.
On the boys side, the third boat of Anders Toresjo ’25, Luke Davis ’24, Peter Roper ’26, Norman Rice ’25, Nathan Frankel ’25, Thomas Small ’26, Nico Crevier ’26, Ryan Chen ’25, and cox Albert Lu ’26 won their grand final race with a time of 4:40.348. The boys first boat earned a fourth-place overall finish and the boys second boat finished in second overall.
Exeter boys tennis enjoyed a day of strong competition at the New England Prep School Invitational Tennis Tournament hosted at Choate Rosemary Hall. Kiran Raval ’24, who earned the NEPSITT boys singles title last spring, earned an 8-0 victory in the opening round before outlasting his opponent in the quarterfinal round, 8-6. Raval dropped a hard-fought match in the semifinal round, 8-5, before claiming third overall with an 8-5 victory in the third-place playoff matchup. David Dai ’26 and Joshua Mullen ’27 earned a third-place finish in the top doubles draw; Hugo Shinn ’27 advanced to the consolation final in the singles B draw.
Rivalry resumed
Exeter track and field put forth several record-breaking performances at Andover to highlight another battle between the Red and Blue. Kai Honda ’24 bettered a 104-year-old Exeter/Andover meet record, blazing across the line in 10.73 seconds in the 100 meters. The previous record was held by Frederick Waterman, class of 1920.
Byron Grevious ’24 put forth another record-breaking run, beating the E/A meet record in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.11. The previous record of 1:54.50 was set in 1996.
Isaiah Reese ’25 collected an E/A meet record of his own in the javelin with a throw of 197 feet, 2 inches, topping the previous record of 194-00 set in 2007. The boys 4x100 meter relay team of Elias Warner '26, Honda, Reese and Jaylen Bennett '25 also set a meet record, coming in at 42.32. The boys rolled over Andover in total team score, 95-49, while the girls side finished second to the Blue, 81-64.
On the diamond, Big Red varsity baseball blanked the hosts, 8-0. Owen Tahnk ’24 and Logan Penney ’24 were excellent on the mound and kept the Big Blue offense quiet. Tahnk fired five innings, yielding just a pair of hits while striking out three. Penney finished the final four frames, allowing just one hit while striking out four. Mason Baldic ’24 collected three hits to power the offense, and Dana Mussulman ’26 added a pair of hits while also reaching base with a walk and getting hit by a pitch on three separate occasions. On the JV baseball side, a back-and-forth battle saw the Blue earn a 6-5 walk-off victory in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Andover picked up victories in the boys varsity lacrosse matchup by a score of 15-6 while Exeter earned a 9-6 victory in the boys JV lacrosse game. The Blue also picked up victories over girls varsity lacrosse, girls JV lacrosse and softball.
