Head of the Miss 2023

To a warmer boat house we went…

A week after Head of the Grand, the crew headed down to the Twin Cities to compete in a bigger, more competitive regatta. After making a short 6 hour drive, we made it to the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities impressive boat house. Luckily we got there soon enough where we didn’t have to pay for parking downtown and got a primo spot to rig our boats. That was until it started down pouring on us. We rigged in the pouring rain and took the boats out for a practice run of the course when the sun finally came. After strapping our boats back onto the trailer and claimed our territory on the grass, we headed to the one and only Mall of America. A couple hours at the mall did some damage to our wallets, but a lot of legos were purchased and everyone was happy.

We spent the night at a hotel courtesy of the Lee family (thank you!!) and had a great pasta dinner provided by the Buzzell family (thank you!!). The next morning we woke up and headed back down to the boat house ready to go. The Head of the Miss route consists of 5 bridges, tight lanes, and a little over 4,820 meters of rowing.

notable performances

Men’s Novice 8+- Eli, Mark, Caleb, Aidan, Christo, Brendan, David, Jack, and Orin (cox) competed against 6 other teams from University of Minnesota, St. Thomas, St. Ben’s/St. John’s, and Minneapolis Rowing Club. After passing through 5 bridges, they pulled in second with a 19:19 minute race time.

Women’s Novice 4+- Emma K, Aili, Avis, Trinity, and Fiona (cox) in boat B and Elise, Emma W, Olivia, Bethany, and Elena (cox) in boat A, both powered through taking both the first and second place in their race against Minneapolis Rowing Club and St. Olaf. It was a tight race with the finish times being 26:24 for boat A and 26:45 for boat B. But boat B took a 2 minute penalty and boat A took a 1 minute penalty, so in reality boat B took first and boat A took second.

Women’s Novice 8+- Elise, Emma W, Olivia, Bethany, Avis, Aili, Emma K, Trinity, and Elena (cox) was the last race MTU would compete in at Head of the Miss but also for the 2023 season. They went out onto the water with an undefeated mindset and that is exactly what they did. Pulling ahead of 4 boats during the race and not once getting passed, they finished first by 4 seconds with a 21:53 minute race time.

After a successful day for the crew in all races, we headed back to campus after strapping boats back on the trailer. This concluded our 2023 competitive season. We still continue to work towards next season with training plans, recruitment events, and just some fun recreational activities with the team.

A huge thank you to our coach Jon for teaching over 18 new rowers (HUGE!!) and for continuing to support and cheer us on through each race.

And finally, BIG THANK YOU to all the families that came out to help at each regatta, your support did not go unnoticed by the team. From the food to even just hearing you on the beaches helped the crew perform the best we could.

Let’s get ready for next season!!