Brunswick picked up a pair of top-10 finishes at the 2019 NEIRA Championship Regatta on Saturday at Lake Quinsigamond in Massachusetts. The 1st Varsity boat finished fifth in the Grand Final, while the 2nd Varsity boat won the Petite Final. The Bruins’ 3rd Varsity boat took sixth in a qualifying heat.
In the final race of the year, Brunswick collected 10 team points to finish in eight-place, as Kent posted a regatta-best 37 points in a field of 13 schools.
This race was the final of the season for the Bruins and the last race for seven seniors: Matthew Pillari, Tommy Kimberlin, Christopher Bass, Scott Gibbons, Hank Michalik, Daniel Augustine and Jack Hoeffel.
On the 1,500-meter course, the 1st Varsity boat qualified for the Grand Final with a strong, second-place finish in a qualifying heat against five boats.
In the six-boat Grand Final, all the boats had strong starts, as Kent broke away for an early lead over the field by the 500-meter mark. Despite the fifth-place finish, the Bruins matched the fourth-best result for the program over the past 19 NEIRA Championships. Last year, Brunswick finished second in the Grand Final.
1st Varsity Qualifier
1 Exeter 4:45.501
2 Brunswick 4:47.197
3 Brookline 4:52.533
4 Shrewsbury 4:56.157
5 Hingham 4:56.669
6 Stonington 5:05.819
1st Varsity Grand Final
1 Kent 4:57.213
2 St. Paul's 5:00.633
3 Salisbury 5:01.769
4 Exeter 5:02.621
5 Brunswick 5:05.849
6 Andover 5:07.129
1st Eight Boating
B Ryan Connolly
2 Nick Dow
3 TJ Lewis
4 Daniel Augustine
5 Hank Michalik
6 Scott Gibbons
7 Christopher Bass
S Tommy Kimberlin
C Matthew Pillari
The 2nd Varsity Eight, after a third-place finish in a qualifying heat, posted a wire-to-wire win in the Petite Final, holding off a late charge by St. John’s. The Bruins won by one-tenth of a second to secure an overall seventh-place finish in 2nd Varsity competition.
2nd Varsity Qualifier
1 St. Paul's 4:44.568
2 Andover 4:45.040
3 Brunswick 4:47.072
4 Fairfield Prep 4:53.464
5 Glastonbury 4:57.424
6 Farmington 4:59.296
2nd Varsity Petite Final
1 Brunswick 5:02.196
2 St. Johns 5:02.296
3 Hanover 5:05.392
4 Fairfield Prep 5:08.008
5 Salisbury 5:11.976
6 Simsbury 5:30.428
2nd Eight Boating
B Fran Miguens
2 Harrison Azrak
3 Nikhil Jaiswal
4 John Dunn
5 David Swigart
6 Theo Evans
7 Jack Hoeffel
S Christian van den Born
C Peter Sheldon
The 3rd Varsity boat finished sixth in a qualifying heat and did not advance to the Grand Final.
3rd Varsity Qualifier
1 Kent 4:49.482
2 St. Paul's 4:50.294
3 BC High 4:52.426
4 Fairfield Prep 4:55.098
5 Brookline 4:59.890
6 Brunswick 5:13.578
3rd Eight Boating
B Parker Russell
2 Tommy Sandford
3 Andrew Shaffer
4 Sam Swigart
5 Robert Jacobson
6 Ford Brown
7 Will Baxter
S Peter Kapp
C Ashton Arjomand
Team Points Boys’ Eight
1. Kent 37
2. Exeter - 33
3. St. Paul's - 31
4. Andover - 27
5. Boston College H.S. -18
6. Salisbury - 12
7. Brookline - 11
8. Brunswick - 10
9. Hanover H.S. - 8
10. St. Johns Prep - 7
11. Fairfield Prep - 6
12. St. John's H.S. - 6
13. Shrewsbury H.S. -3