Virginia Crew: Madison Womens’ First Eight Brings Home the Gold from Stotesbury Regatta

Madison High School's womens crew brought home silver and gold from the Stotesbury Cup Regatta held last weekend in Philadelphia. 

This was the capstone of Madison’s most successful showing in team history with three boats in the finals and five boats reaching the semifinals. After a disappointing third place finish at the 2012 Stotesbury Cup, the women’s first varsity eight powered past National Cathedral by more than seven seconds to capture the gold at this prestigious regatta.  Rowing for the Women’s First Eight were  Hannah Brown, Zoe Kalousis, Karen Munyon, Carolina Ratcliff, George Ratcliff, Lexy Shannon, Caroline Williams, Grace Williams, and coxswain Sarah Voigt.   

The women’s second eight brought home hardware once again, powering through pouring rain to claim the silver medal, less than three seconds behind Mount Saint Joseph.  And, for the first time ever, a Madison freshmen’s boat reached the final at Stotesbury, with the Men’s Freshmen Eight rowing to an impressive 4th place finish, out of 45 boats competing.   

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta has been held continuously since 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The world's oldest and largest high school regatta features more than 5,000 athletes representing 193 schools and riding in 960 boats.  Top high school teams from across the United States and Canada participate in this prestigious regatta, vying for rowing bragging rights and competing to bring home the coveted Stotesbury cup awarded to the Men’s and Women’s first eights.   

Madison brought a total of eight boats to the Stotesbury Regatta. In addition to the finalists, the Men’s First Eight and  the Women’s Freshmen Eight also advanced to the semi-finals, with 16th and 12th place finishes in their time trials out of 38 and 36 boats respectively.  The Men’s Second Eight just missed advancing to the semi-finals with a 15th place finish. The Women’s Junior Eight, while not advancing, powered past several VASRA rivals, including South County, with the Men’s Junior Eight also finishing solidly in a crowded field.

Next week, Madison will take six boats to the  Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) championships at the Cooper River in New Jersey, having earned their advancement through their medals at the Virginia State Championship or top finishes throughout the rowing season.

Treeby Brown contributed reporting to this article.