NUTLEY, NJ – On Saturday, April 15, the Nutley High School Raider Rowing Team stayed home to race in the Metropolitan Youth Speed Orders on the Passaic River. Conditions were good for racing and the Raider Crew proved equally as good as the team collected six gold medals, two silver and three bronze medals on the day.
The MYSO regatta is a little different from traditional side-by-side racing. In a speed order, or time-trial race, crews head down the course one at a time, racing against the clock. The crew that covers the distance in the fastest time is the winner.
Coach McIntyre’s varsity boys got into the win column as the lightweights (Charlie Scorsone, Matt Scorsone, Max Wechter, Owen Morris, and Andrew Irwin) put it all together for a win, defeating two crews from Kearny. The boys’ varsity 4 race was won by Kearny with Seton Hall finishing second. However, the Nutley crew (Jacob Maslag, Cedric Ardente, Rudy Meglio, Ken Yanes, and coxswain Kevin Arendela) had its best race this year which was good enough to beat the rest of the field to earn the bronze medal for their event.
Coach Ford’s JV 8s maintained steady progress as each earned a bronze medal in their respective events. The boys’ JV 8 race was won by Kearny. Belleville was in second and Nutley picked up the bronze. The girls’ JV 8 was won by North Arlington. Row NY Queens came in second with Nutley again taking the bronze from the rest of the field.
Coach Ford doubled up some of her kids into a second event. The strategy paid off as Coach Ford’s group of coxswain Jessica Spitz, Paulina Giron, Vivienne Dotoli, Chelsy Cabreja, and Erin Veltre rowed up as a varsity four, and did an excellent job earning a silver medal. The race was won by Row NY Manhattan.
The novice program was finally able to enjoy a full day of racing as conditions were excellent and all of the races were run. The Nutley freshmen/novice rowers took full advantage of their opportunity to race as three of the four crews took home medals. Coach Apicella’s boys’ novice eight earned a silver medal, defeating all teams except the eventual winner St. Benedicts Prep. Coach Scarpelli’s novice girls swept their events, winning both the Novice 4 and Novice 8 events and defeating crews from Belleville, North Arlington, and Row NY Queens.
Coach Kevin Smyth’s varsity girls enjoyed a successful day winning all three of their events. The girls’ lightweight four (Marissa Daly, Meghan Mackle, Jazzy Delamerced, Sara Araujo, and Jen Ariola) and junior 4 (Danielle Swan, Alaina Feaster, Mackenzie Moraski, Daniella LaRosa, and Barbara Benda) each won their events. The two fours came together along with coxswain Victoria Daly to row again in the Varsity 8 race – a two boat, winner-take-all event against Row NY Manhattan. The Raiders proved too strong for Row NY as they won the varsity 8 to stay perfect on the day.
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