Crew team competes in Stotesbury Cup Regatta

The Blair crew team competed in the Stotesbury Cup Regatta in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 20. The girls' team placed 29th out of 33 boats in the Girls Senior Eight, and the boys' team placed 50th out of 53 boats in the Boys Senior Four.

This was the first time that the team participated in the Stotesbury Cup, the largest high school regatta in the country. 176 high schools across the country participated, with 868 boats and over 5,000 students. "We felt very professional, as Stotesbury had always been this unspoken regatta that we strived to go to,” junior captain Becca Ederer said.

Competing in the pouring rain affected Crew's race times. A team's overall ranking and effort is more important than their individual times, according to Ederer. "Time doesn't matter due to changing conditions, but we hope to do better next year,” she said.

The regatta allowed the team to scope out its nationwide competition. While the teams did not place highly at Stotesbury, they were still proud of their accomplishments. "We hoped that we would do better, but this was our first time on this river and in a regatta this big,” Ederer said.

Blair crew was created only three years ago; the team was smaller than its competitors and primarily comprised of novices. This year, however, the team entered the competition after a regional win at the Washington Metropolitan Interscholastic Rowing Association championships on May 14 gave it a confidence boost.

Blair Crew held extra practices and meetings in preparation for this year's race. The team hopes to be an even stronger competitor next year, despite the absence of its graduating seniors. "I think we will improve, as we've improved for the past two years,” Ederer said. "We're going to rock Philly.”

Stay up to date on Blair sports teams via twitter: @SCOsports