LHS Rowing News

METHUEN -- The Lowell High School Crew team kicked off its spring season at the Essex Indoor Rowing Invitational at Methuen High School this past weekend.

The boys team finished first, while the girls placed second. Overall the team placed second out of five teams.

Leo Tannheimer, Colin Creegan, Wayne Dean, Kate Nowoswiat and Kate Burgess all placed first in their respective events.

BOYS

8000m: Leo Tannheimer, 1st Place, 31:25.8; Jon Cahill, 6th Place, 34:27.1

4000m: Colin Creegan, 1st Place, 14:49.2; Josiah Todd, 3rd Place, 15:14.9

2000m: Ian Finn, 2nd Place, 7:06.0; Dave Ducharme, 3rd Place, 7:15.7

1000m: Kevin Jarvis & Harry Finch, 3rd Place (Tied), 3:26.0

500m: Wayne Dean, 1st Place, 1:30.6 ; Dan Burke, 3rd Place, 1:33.7, Vishnu Gollakota, 4th Place, 1:36.7

300m: Nick Hannon, 2nd Place, 51.1; Joe Larocque, 3rd Place, 54.0

80m: Joe Larocque, 2nd Place, 13.7; Wayne Dean, 3rd Place, 13.8; Dan Burke, 4th Place, 14.0; Vishnu Gollakota, 6th Place, 14.7

GIRLS

8000m: LJ Howard, 3rd Place, 35:44.5; Erinn McLaughlin, 5th Place, 38:51.9; Jessica Burke, 6th Place, 39:39.8

4000m: Ariana Rogers, 3rd Place, 17:35.6; Kate McKenzie, 4th Place, 18:13.9

2000m: Ashley Price Dyment, 7th Place, 8:21.3; Clarissa Ronzio, 13th Place, 9:28.2

1000m: Shaundra Shattuck, 2nd Place, 3:46.4; Anna Silk, 4th Place, 4:03.9

500m: Kate Nowoswiat & Kate Burgess 1st Place (Tied), 1:46.0

260m: Mary Silk, 5th Place, 52.3; Rachel Walsh, 10th Place, 1:49.7

80m: Miatta Shafore, 4th Place, 15.1 ; Mary Silk, 6th Place, 15.4

Senior rower Vishnu Gollakota was one of 62 Greater Boston teens awarded a four year full-tuition college scholarship by the Posse Foundation. After participating in a rigorous selection process, Vishnu was chosen from over 1,100 nominated students.

The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits and trains student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams called “Posses.” These teams are then prepared, through an intensive eight-month Pre-Collegiate Training Program, for enrollment at top-tier universities nationwide to pursue their academics and to help promote cross-cultural communication on campus.

Next fall, Vishnu will join nine other Posse Scholars at Union College in New York. He intends to row for the crew team, and study graphic design.

Link: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/aplus/14565234/detail.html

A Plus 11/15/07: Lowell's Katy Nowoswiat

BOSTON -- Every two weeks, NewsCenter 5 presents a high school senior who has taken the lessons of the classroom and applied them to life.

This Week's A Plus student is Lowell High School's Katy Nowoswiat.
NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that Katy's natural aptitude for language has taken her many places, including Spain. She plans on studying Spanish in college too, but don't expect her to stop there.

"I want to become fluent. I want to master a couple of languages," said Katy.

"In my class, in Spanish class she clearly has a gift for languages. When she's pronouncing Spanish, she has a very natural Spanish accent. She's not afraid to speak out loud in class," said Spanish teacher Erica Smith.
Her outspokenness has served her well at Lowell High School. She currently ranks six in her class of nearly 800.

"She is working hard. She has to be working hard," said Smith.

Katy is excelling with a condition most people don't know about. Just before her third birthday, she was diagnosed with cancer in her left eye, which had caused glaucoma and vision loss.

"[My family was] really worried. But they were just always praying for the best. My sister was just born literally, she was 5 weeks old when I had the operation."

Her operation was successful and young Katy was cancer free, with 20/20 vision in her right eye and a glass eye in her left eye.

"Being so young I don't really think I understood what had happened until later. I have no depth perception and walk into things a lot, but it doesn't make me [exempt from doing] anything," she said.

She also plays the clarinet for her school band.

"Once you play the music a few times you know what to expect of the notes and they just come out in your fingers rather than you have to read them," said Katy.

Katy is also an integral part of her school's crew team. Last year, she captained them to two championships.

"As a captain, she knows how to be a leader. And everyone listens to her," said best friend Mary Silk.

"You can do anything you want no matter what. There shouldn't be anything that stands in your way," said Katy.

Eleven seniors on the crew team have been awarded the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. This award entitles them to four years of free tuition at any UMass campus, or Massachusetts state/community college.

Massachusetts public high school students automatically qualify for the Adams Scholarship when they

1. score in the Advanced category in either the Mathematics or the English language arts section of the grade 10 MCAS test;
2. score in the Proficient or Advanced category on the second subject (Mathematics or English language arts); and
3. have a combined MCAS score on these assessments that ranks in the top 25% in their school district.

Congratulations to the following crew seniors:

Katy Nowoswiat
Colin Creegan
Nick Hannon
Mary Silk
Eddie Crockett
Nick Lutz
Liz Mahon
Arianna Osario
Ray Umunna
Ianna Hondros-McCarthy
Dan Burke

The Lowell High School Crew Team, having been chosen to be part of the school department's "Spotlight on Excellence", was honored by the School Committee this week. The 33 athletes who won medals at the Fall State Championships attended, as well as several other athletes from the team, parents, and coaches. Coach Jen Bauer gave a brief overview of the team's history and accomplishments, and then introduced each rower.

Below is a copy of the memo each member of the school committee received:

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Lowell High School Crew. The first six years of the program were instrumental in setting the foundation for the success of the team. With the arrival of coaches Jennifer Campbell Bauer and Kendra Bauer in 2004, the team has experienced tremendous development. It has grown from 40 to over 100 athletes, the fleet of boats has doubled in size and we have become one of the premier public high school rowing teams in Massachusetts. In that time, the team has won 16 medals at the Massachusetts State Championships, including four State Champion titles for individual boats. Additionally, for the past two years the team has qualified a boat for USRowing Youth Nationals in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2006, Amber Zaptaka placed 9th in the country in the girls’ singles event. Last spring the boys’ varsity lightweight eight placed 16th overall.

Of the 53 seniors who have graduated over the past three years, 51 have gone on to college, and 2 have joined the military. Together, these student-athletes amassed over $2 million in athletic and academic scholarship offers. Fourteen of our alumni are now rowing at the collegiate level, including schools such as Bowdoin, Duquesne, Gonzaga, UMass Lowell, University of Rhode Island, Ithaca, North Park University, University of San Diego, Wesleyan, and Mass Maritime. Four of these athletes are competing at the NCAA Division I level.

We began this fall season rather untraditionally, with a six-mile hike in the Berkshires. Rowers, parents, coaches and alumni participated in the hike and raised $3500 for the National MS Society. This was done in solidarity with one of our own rowers, Ian Finn, who was diagnosed with MS last spring.

The racing season kicked off with a strong showing at the Textile River Regatta. Despite graduating 29 seniors this past spring, the crew team had its best performance ever. Sixty-nine teams from 10 different states traveled to Lowell to compete in the regatta, which was co-hosted by Lowell High School. LHS crew won six medals. The boys’ varsity heavyweight kicked off the day with a bronze medal, besting 22 other teams. The girls’ novice eight captured a silver medal. The mixed-eight, comprised of 4 varsity girls and 4 varsity boys, won a bronze medal. The boys’ varsity lightweight eight won a gold medal for the second year in a row, easily beating the second place finisher by over two minutes. The girls’ varsity lightweight eight took home a silver. Finally, senior Eddie Crockett snagged a silver medal in the men’s novice single. It was the most successful Textile Regatta in the history of the team, with Lowell rowers earning a total of 55 medals!

Two weeks later, 73 members of the team raced at the New Hampshire Championships, picking up several more medals. The most impressive performance of the day came from the boys' 1st varsity heavyweight eight which placed second out of 21 boats in the Junior Boys' Eight, earning a silver medal and losing only to Community Rowing of Boston. Less than two hours later, the boys climbed back into their boat to race in the Men's Open Eight event. Pitted against older collegiate and club teams, LHS captured the bronze medal, placing third behind MIT and UMass Amherst. On the girls' side, the 1st novice eight placed 2nd out of 18 boats, earning them the silver medal.

The next weekend the boys' varsity heavyweight eight raced in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA. The yearly international event attracts over 8,600 competitors from 18 different countries, and 300,000 spectators line the banks of the Charles River during this two-day event. Racing in the Men’s Youth Eight event, LHS posted an impressive time of 16:19, placing 34th overall, just one minute out of first place and fourth among public high schools.

The last race of the season was the Massachusetts State Championships in Worcester, MA. Lowell High School had its best ever performance, winning 5 medals. The girls’ 1st novice eight took home the title of State Champions, winning a gold medal. The girls’ 1st varsity eight had an excellent showing as well, winning a bronze medal. The varsity boys showed a great depth, picking up a silver medal in the boys’ varsity eight and a bronze in the boys’ varsity four. Additionally, senior Vishnu Gollakota brought home a silver in the varsity single.

Overall it was a fantastic season, with LHS winning a total of 14 medals over four races. In addition, juniors Josiah Todd and Harry Finch broke school records in the 2,000m and 6,000m erg pieces. The team also fundraised enough money to purchase two new boats and sets of oars, putting us on par with the elite prep schools we often face. We look forward to our spring season with hope of continued success.

Head Coach/Boys Varsity: Jennifer Campbell Bauer
Girls Varsity: Kendra Bauer
Boys Novice: Robby Walters ‘05
Girls Novice: Steven Hall ‘05
Assistant Coach: Eric Walkup ‘07

Girls Novice Eight (Gold Medal) - Jaishri Atri, Jillian McDermott, Miranda Lutz, Erinn McLaughlin, Arianna Rogers, Ashley Price-Dyment, Liz Larocque, Aly Hall, Diana Nguyen

Boys Varsity Eight (Silver Medal) - Mike McKeon, Pat McInerney, Harry Finch, Josiah Todd, Kevin Jarvis, Eddie Crockett, Leo Tannheimer, Colin Creegan, Dan Burke

Varsity Single (Silver Medal) - Vishnu Gollakota

Boys Varsity Four (Bronze Medal) – Cameron Crockett, Nathan Montminy, Joe Larocque, Ian Finn, Dave Ducharme

Girls 1st Varsity Eight (Bronze Medal) – Natali Soto, Britney Reardon, LJ Howard, Katy Nowoswiat, Shaundra Shattuck, Kate Burgess, Kaitlin MacKenzie, Lauren Dubois, Jessica Burke