LM Crew Makes Waves with Postseason Success

Lower Merion High School’s crew team enjoyed an outstanding postseason, delivering strong performances at the Philadelphia City Championships and Stotesbury Cup Regatta before capping the spring with three top-five finishes at the 2026 SRAA Scholastic National Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Aces opened May with an impressive showing at the Philadelphia City Championships, where 17 Lower Merion boats competed, eight advanced to finals and four earned podium finishes. Lower Merion’s Girls JV 2x of Grace Fitzpatrick and Samantha Berdow placed first; the Girls JV 4+ of Sally Cook, Veronica Vescovacci Campos, Tancey Li, Evelyn Ward and coxswain Mira Keating earned silver; and both the Girls JV 8+ and Boys JV 8+ captured bronze. Lower Merion finished eighth overall out of 74 clubs.

The Girls JV 8+ boat — featuring Honor Joseph, Victoria Aiquel Gomez, Maya Koka, Ella Barlev, Ava Robinson, Aniyah Evans, Jordan Thur, Izzy Miner and Carly Li — continued its strong postseason at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the world’s largest high school regatta. After placing eighth in time trials, the crew advanced to the semifinals, where it finished fourth in a highly competitive field.

The team’s postseason success was highlighted by Fitzpatrick and Berdow, who captured the Girls Junior 2x national championship at SRAA Nationals. Competing against top scholastic crews from across the country, the Lower Merion duo won the national final in 6:21.520, finishing more than four seconds ahead of second-place Cathedral Catholic High School. The victory came after an already impressive local championship run, as Fitzpatrick and Berdow also won the Girls JV 2x at the Philadelphia City Championships and followed that performance with a first-place finish in the Girls Junior Double at Stotesbury, where they earned the Patrick O’Rourke Memorial Trophy.

Lower Merion’s Girls Junior 4+ also delivered a memorable postseason. The boat, coxed by Keating and rowed by Cook, Vescovacci Campos, Li and Ward, qualified for SRAA Nationals and advanced all the way to the national final. After winning its heat and semifinal, the crew earned bronze in the Girls Junior 4+ final, finishing third in 5:59.630 — just 2.220 seconds behind national champion St. Thomas Aquinas and only 0.310 seconds behind second-place Notre Dame de Namur.

The Girls Junior 4+ had also shown its strength earlier in the month at Stotesbury, where the crew advanced through a highly competitive field. Lower Merion placed among the top crews in the time trial, then won its semifinal in 5:50.89 to earn a spot in the final of The Elizabeth Plate, where it finished fourth.

The Aces’ boys JV 8+ also delivered one of the team’s standout postseason performances. After earning bronze at City Championships, the boat carried that momentum to SRAA Nationals, where it advanced through a highly competitive field to reach the Boys Junior 8+ national final. Lower Merion claimed the final qualifying spot in its semifinal by just over half a second, then finished fifth in the nation after battling strong competition from several season-long rivals.

Together, the results reflected a remarkable stretch for the Aces on both the local and national stages. From City Championships to Stotesbury to SRAA Nationals, Lower Merion’s crew athletes consistently placed themselves among the region’s and nation’s strongest scholastic boats, closing the season with a national championship, a national bronze medal, a boys JV 8+ top-five national finish and a series of standout performances on the Schuylkill and beyond.

Congratulations to Lower Merion crew on an exceptional spring season!