St Neots ladies lead the way at home head race
It was a case of ladies first for St Neots Rowing Club at its 2017 Small Boats Head. The club had three wins on the day, all from its female squad, and there were several other creditable performances from juniors and seniors.
Jade Hellet had two reasons to celebrate: she won the women’s 1x category and her time of 11mins 19secs landed her the best female sculler pennant, awarded to the fastest female single sculler in the main head race.
Etilly Pigg continued her run of fine form by winning the women’s J16 1x category in a time of 11mins 36secs – just five seconds away from being the fastest junior female sculler on the day.
The smart money in the women’s masters EF 2x category was on our ‘dream team’ of Ali Brown and Helen Knowles, and so it was perhaps no surprise when they swept across the line in 11mins 9secs to secure their fourth victory this year. This impressive performance followed wins in Bedford, Sudbury and at our own regatta – and preceded a fifth victory the following weekend at Bedford head.
“Well done to all the prize winners, but most importantly it was great to see all the competitors and spectators enjoying themselves on the day,” said event organiser Josh Dexter. “Despite receiving fewer entries than in previous years, the standard of competition was very high, with some events only being won by the odd second or two.”
Here’s a summary of results from St Neots rowers and the event’s main awards.
St Neots performances
Women’s masters EF 2x: Ali Brown and Helen Knowles
Time: 11:09
First in category, 63rd place overall
Women’s 1x: Jade Hellett
Time: 11:19
First in category, 71st place overall
Women’s J16 1x: Etilly Pigg
Time: 11:36
First in category, 85th place overall
Masters C 4+: Trevor Rickwood, Tim Neill, Kieron Marriner, Karl Zwetsloot and Deb Hellett (cox)
Time: 10:22
22nd place overall but no competition
Fastest St Neots crew of the day
Open 4+: Tom O’Reilly, Jake Durant, Alex Johnson, Dominic Holdaway and William Crawford (cox)
Time: 10:46
Third in category, joint 45th place overall
J17 1x (tier 2): Andrew Lawrence
Time: 10:52
Fourth in category, 50th place overall
J18 2x: Dominic Holdaway and Alex Johnson
Time: 10:53
Fifth in category, 51st place overall
Masters DE 1x: Stuart Williams
Time: 11:04
Second in category, 59th place overall
Award winners
Harry Evans Memorial Trophy: Star Club (seven wins)
Awarded to the club with the most wins in the main head
Head of the river pennant: J18 4x- Bedford Modern School Boat Club with a time of 8:46
Awarded to the overall fastest crew in the main head
Best male sculler pennant: Connor Sheridan (Bedford School Boat Club) with a time of 9:57
Awarded to the fastest male single sculler in the main head
Best female sculler pennant: Jade Hellett (St Neots Rowing Club) with a time of 11:19
Awarded to the fastest female single sculler in the main head