For most seniors at the West Windsor-Plainsboro high schools, the awards ceremonies the first week in June were the last chance to gather trophies for the family mantel. But for North’s Lauren Alba, who received the 14th District Public Service Award, and South’s Erin Conlon, honored as one of her school’s 20 High Honor students, the ceremonies were followed by a transatlantic flight to England to compete for one more set of trophies.##M:[more]##
Just three days after the South awards ceremony, the Mercer Junior Rowing Club girls varsity 8 boat won the Reading Amateur Regatta on Saturday, June 10. On Sunday, June 18, the team, which includes Alba, Conlon, and two other WW-P rowers, finished second at the Henley Regatta. The girls, competing together for the last time after five years as teammates, beat the British National champions, from Molesley, before losing to a boat from Oakland, California, in the final race.
Oakland had a time of 5 minutes and 11 seconds in the 1500 meter race, and Mercer’s boat came in 1 1/4 lengths behind them. Oakland finished second in U.S. Nationals before traveling to England. The Mercer girls 8 boat made a team decision to forego the Nationals in favor of the international competitions.
The team was awarded the Royal Military Academy Challenge Trophy for winning the Reading Amateur Regatta, held on the Thames River since 1842. Both Regattas featured dual-style racing, with two crews per race, in single elimination format, on a 1,”500 meter course on the Thames River.
This team won the Northeast Mid-Atlantic Regionals and the Mercer Lake sprints before their trip across the pond. Coach Sean McCourt is pleased with his team’s accomplishments, though he says, “Second place is hard to take.”
The team will race again next year, but will lose five members who are seniors and will now row in college. WW-P South’s Conlon will go to Stanford, where she received scholarships both for academic performance and for crew. Alba of WW-P North is headed to Boston University. Rachel LaBella, from WW-P South, will return to the team next year, as will Kiki Rosa, a student at North.
The Mercer Junior Rowing Club is the junior program for the Princeton National Rowing Association and they row at Mercer Lake in West Windsor Township. The program is open to all high school students who do not have rowing programs in their schools.
