St. Andrews School in Middletown, Delaware, was once the beautiful setting for the classic Robin Williams film “Dead Poets Society.” On Saturday, it was an ideal setting for a classic high school crew race.
Ocean City and several other local teams took part in the Noxontown Regatta, an invitational competition on the scenic Noxontown Pond, a tributary of the Appoquinim River which runs directly adjacent to the school.
Ocean City, Mainland, and Holy Spirit took part in the competition, along with the host Cardinals and W.C. Woodson High School of Fairfax, Virginia and T.C. Williams of Alexandria Virginia.
The weather was perfect. It was sunny, 55 degrees, the course conditions were glassy and there was a slight tailwind. Some of the racing highlights of the day included:
The Ocean City Boys won the Varsity 8 race. The Raiders powered through the competition to win in 4:35.2 with St. Andrews coming in second in 4:37.1. Mainland took third in 4:53.2, followed by Woodson and T.C. Williams.
In the Girls Varsity 8 race, Ocean City came up short, finishing second to local rivals Holy Spirit. The Spartans crossed the finish line in 5:00.7, ahead of the Raiders 5:05.8. T.C. Williams was third followed by St. Andrews, Mainland and Woodson.
Ocean City girls came even closer in the Second 8 race, finishing eight tenths of a second behind T.C. Williams, who won in 5:14.2.
In a thrilling Boys Second 8 race, Mainland and Ocean City finished 1-2, with the Mustangs crossing the line in 4:48.7, ahead of the Raiders 4:50.2.
Overall, a great day on the water for the Ocean City Team. It was a competitive day of racing against some excellent teams on a scenic, historic venue. Below are the official times for all of the races:
Next week, they are off to Philadelphia for race number 3:6 of the Manny Flick Series. It will be a big test for them because they will face the best teams in the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association.
