A doubles shell represents Northwood at the 2019 New York State Championships (photo: Caroline Harrison ’22).

Northwood’s crew team is not considered one of the “big three” programs at Northwood—those being soccer, hockey, and alpine ski racing. That isn’t to say it doesn’t have pedigree, however. 

David Garvey ‘22, who rowed at Northwood for two years, recently made the D1 team at Hobart College as a freshman. This year, Northwood’s roster of rowers has experienced some losses. Two of the top athletes from last year, Garvey and Caroline Harrison ‘22, both graduated and are now pursuing the sport at a higher level. Returning athletes make up only about half of the team this year. Those returners are Amanda Nelson ‘23, Christie-Ann Nelson, ‘23, Ashley Guevara ‘24, Colin Kis ‘24, and Gus Garvey ‘25. In addition to the returners, 4 new crew athletes have joined to try their hand in the sport. Those are Jesse Schoch ‘25, Sophia Sherman ‘25, Hung Nguyen ‘25, and Avery Novia ‘24.  

One thing that is of concern to many new crew athletes is the steep learning curve that comes with rowing a shell. First, the mechanics are difficult to get right. Every little detail has to be perfect in order to move the boat forward. Furthermore, the boats are not very sturdy, and are supported by keeping one or both of the long oars in the “feather” position—that is, flat along the surface of the water to cover the most surface area. This is in addition to the fact that any major mistake usually results in the boat flipping, sending the rower into Mirror Lake, joining springtime whitewater athletes as members of the (unofficial) Northwood swim team.  

“It’s definitely harder than I expected it to be,” said Sophia Sherman ‘25. “Just learning to balance and coordinate your oars is a challenge. Although I haven’t had much time for it either, I’m excited to get to fully learn the sport”.  

However, there are many variables when it comes to training. Rain and wind sometimes keep athletes off the water. Alternative training involves endurance training, through running and machine workouts on the ergometers in the Fitness Center. In addition, new athletes who are uneasy about the conditions can usually ask to run instead, at coach Howard “H” Runyon’s discretion.  

Jesse Schoch ‘25 commented, “I find it to be pretty fun. I would like to be out in the boats more, but it’s cool. I’m not feeling ready for races yet, though.” All of the novice rowers this year seem to be enjoying themselves, and the only athlete who has actually fallen into the lake so far is a returner.  

“I fell into the water because my oar lock was loose and came out.” said Colin Kis ‘24, who rowed for the Huskies last season. “During the capsizing when I was in the water, all I was thinking about was that I wanted to get out of the water and back into the boat as soon as possible,” he said. It was his first time falling in, but he didn’t seem too rattled by it. All he reported was a bit of soreness the next day, as he treaded water for over 30 minutes whilst trying to climb back into the shell.  

The crew team will have two races this fall. One is coming up on Saturday, September 24th. It takes place on the Fish Creek of Saratoga Springs, in a regatta known as the Tail of the Fish. The other, also in Saratoga Springs, is called the Head of the Fish, which occurs in late October and will be on the same course as the September race.  

The 2021-2022 boys’ ice hockey season has been one of ups and downs for the three teams at Northwood School. Despite many struggles between these teams, the new three-team format was one of success on multiple fronts. With efforts from Prep, Varsity, and High School teams, there was no shortage of boys’ hockey this year at Northwood.  

The boys Prep team, under new management from Head Coach Mark Morris and Assistant Coach Steve Mallaro, had a highly successful season in their first year with the Prep Hockey Conference (PHC). This team joined an exclusive group of Northwood boys’ hockey teams to hit 40 wins in a season, with a record of 41-19-2. In the PHC Playoffs, the Huskies defeated Culver Academies and South Kent Selects, while finishing second in their division.  

Coach Morris was satisfied overall with the team’s progress and was happy with the way the season went. 

Varsity goalie Ben Norton ’22 (Photo provided)

“It was great to work with this bunch, and I thought we got a lot out of it, individually and collectively. We were able to knock off some of the top prep teams in the country, and it was also a great league we were a part of this year with the PHC.” 

With over a dozen seniors graduating at the end of the year, there are obviously some big shoes to fill in terms of players. However, Morris is more than ready for what is ahead. 

“I felt like we accomplished a great deal as a group and look forward to the future with a lot of excitement and anticipation.” 

The Varsity team was also treated to a winning season, going 21-20-2 with 113 goals on the year. Despite the loss of Head Coach Jeff Miller for most of the season due to health issues, the team continued to develop, with Tim Wolford acting as an interim coach. While not playing for league playoffs such as the Prep team, the Varsity boys continued to fight with every game, and were buoyed by the return of Coach Miller for the final stretch of the season. 

The Varsity team also stands to lose a few players, however not as many as the Prep team. Despite the inconsistencies and changes, the team stayed strong, and retains a lot of hope for the upcoming seasons. 

The High School team, which unofficially merged with the Varsity team throughout the season, also had a successful year, despite only playing 23 games. The team went 13-9-1, for a winning percentage of .587.  

Despite all the changes from previous years to this year, it managed to be successful across the board for boys’ hockey at Northwood School. As the organization continues to go down this road, it is safe to say many of the challenges faced this season will be ironed out. There is plenty of hope ahead for each of the teams. 

This year’s ski season was filled with many accomplishments and lots of hard work. The Mirror recently caught up with Alpine Program Director Tommy Biesemeyer to get the highlights.

At the U16 level, Lincoln Norfolk ‘24 won overall New York State Champion at Bristol Mountain, while Cara Dempsey ’25 also podiumed (was among the top-three finishers) at States. Bodhi Boschen ‘24 became known as the “dark horse,” Biesemeyer said, because he had the ability to come from behind. Boschen started way back at 49th place in the Super G race at Regionals at Burke Mountain, but finished in 3^rd place. That performance qualified him for U16 National Championships at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. All racers in the U16 age group had a podium finish at the regional or state level.

The U18 FIS women were led by Elizabeth Creighton ‘24 who had multiple podiums at the FIS level, which lowered her points, leading her to be one of the top Canadian first year FIS athletes this season. This resulted in her getting invited to a prestigious training camp in Sweden. 

The FIS boys were led by Dominick DeGuardia ‘24 who placed sixth at U18 National Championships in Vail, Colorado. DeGuardia was just three-tenths of a second off the podium.  Kieran Delay ‘23 also showed a lot of promise and good results. Delay, along with Rowan Norfolk ‘22 Macie Eisenhart ‘23 and Pedro Gonzalez ‘23 all qualified for U18 Nationals.

Biesemeyer was impressed with the FIS racers this year. “When you start FIS-level racing, it’s a really difficult start because you are racing against guys that are in college,” Beisemeyer noted.

The Nordic program was led by Bella Wissler ’23 and Sophia Kelting ‘23 who both qualified for Nationals. Bella recently placed 3rd overall in her age group at Biathlon Nationals in Lake Placid.

The 2021-2022 Northwood Ski Team

Most of 2021-22 ski racers (Photo: Facebook).