Blue Devil Crew Strong in
Snowflake Regatta
The setting couldn't have been more perfect for the sixth annual Long Island Snowflake Regatta on the Peconic riverfront. Sponsored by the Town of Riverhead, the competition drew 400 rowers and allowed the Blue Devil crew team to shine.
Huntington High School turned in another strong performance in a field that included more than 100 teams. Organized by East End Rowing and featuring more than 135 boats participating in 20 races, the regatta drew athletes from Riverhead High School, Cold Spring Harbor High School and Flanders' East End Rowing Club, along with crews from as far away as Nyack, the lower Hudson Valley and Massachusetts.
Weather conditions that included high winds and an outgoing tide challenged the rowers' skills as the teenagers navigated the race's final meters in the narrow river channel, with boats heading in the opposite direction toward the starting line and rowing at the river's edge.
Competing in the women's junior single event, Blue Devil junior Nicole Caputo won silver, coming in 20 seconds off the first-place winner's time. In the men's JV 4, rowers Austin Dunn, Matt Mavrogian, Andy Mollitor and Spencer Young took third place and a bronze medal.
Overall, it was a solid showing by Huntington, with the women's junior double, men's novice 4, men's junior 4+ and the women's junior novice 4+ all rowing well, as some of them just missed placing in the top three spots of their races.
"We're proud of how these kids came together as a team, supporting and cheering each other on," longtime coach Marc Jensen said. "This is a challenging course under the best of conditions and the wind added a layer of difficulty that raised the bar, but all the crews met the challenge."
Huntington is a hardworking team with high hopes for the spring season. The Snowflake Regatta offered a glimpse of some of the Blue Devils' emerging talent. "The team competed exceptionally well and ended the fall season on a very high note," said Rob Polizzo, another of the school's veteran crew coaches.