Crew Wraps Up Their Season at Sculling States by Cadie Critchfield
As the end of the 2024-2025 season starts to come to an end for Mel High’s Crew Team, the team prepares to compete in Sculling States, one of their biggest events of the year. Freshman Sean Smith and sophomore Heidi Hunt, discuss how they themselves and the team prepare for the upcoming regatta. There are a lot of steps the rowers have to take before they can head to a regatta, “The crew team prepares for regattas by taking apart the shells (boats) for transportation on a large trailer, and by packing all of the equipment onto the bottom part of the trailer” , said Smith. Oftentimes, the crew team has to spend an entire practice loading the trailer and prepping the boats for travel. It is very important that the team stays vigilant as they load and care for their equipment because everything is incredibly fragile and expensive, and it is all essential to a productive and safe race.
Going to Sculling States is a very nerve racking experience, it is a lot of pressure on the rower, because all of the practices of the year add up to this very race. “Sculling States can be an intimidating regatta because there are so many boats and teams, and it shows the progress I've made throughout the year,” said Hunt. To prepare for the regatta Hunt tries to remind herself that she should be proud of everything she's done no matter what happens. Mentally preparing for her races is essential for Hunt to keep a cool head and prepare herself well for the regatta. Hunt has to trust herself and her teammates to ensure that everything goes swimmingly.
Even though it takes a lot to prepare for such an important regatta, both Smith and Hunt know that it will be a very entertaining and fulfilling event. During Sculling States, rowers compete in Nathan Benderson Park, and Smith said that “My favorite part is the race venue, it's absolutely beautiful there and the surrounding area is amazing”. Whether Mel High Crew comes home with all gold medals, or empty handed, it will be an amazing race and an incredible learning experience for all of the novices. “Crew is all about teamwork, and Sculling States is a way we can come together for the last time of the season and have fun,” said Hunt.
Caption: Seniors Caelan King, Daniel Johnson, and Braden King, stand with the head coach Heather Rogers and Nathan Waligorski, a rower on the team who goes to a different high school. They stand in front of the packed trailer that is waiting to be taken three hours away to Sarasota, for the sarasota regatta. The entire team works diligently to carefully pack the trailer for each and every regatta so that everything gets there in one piece.