On Saturday, April 21, The Gunston School played host to eight visiting rowing programs to host the 5th Annual Gunston Invitational. In a day that would feature 16 different categories of racing, 62 competing crews, and nearly 500 spectators, it proved to be an exciting day on-campus.
Combined, Herons’ boy’s and girl’s crews earned second-place finishes in four out of six events on Saturday.
“Conditions were excellent,” said Director of Rowing Mike Davenport, “There were some great races today with plenty of competitive finishes. I thought our boy’s and girl’s programs rowed well and we were able to support our varsity and novice rowers alike.”
In one of the fastest, closest races of the day, the boys’ varsity eight battled with perennial power Walter Johnson. Gunston, coxed by junior Caroline Roser, jumped out to an early lead off the start and maintained a clean line but the Wildcats would finish with a surge of their own, finishing by a half boat length in front of the Herons.
The Herons’ girl’s varsity four, coxed by sophomore Isabella Santoboni, also had an exciting finish after a second-place battle with Montgomery Blair High School. Gunston faithful held their collective breath as the boats crossed the line, seemingly at the same time. However, when results came through the Lady Herons earned the second place finish by less than one second.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.