It was a busy and memorable Saturday for Big Red, as Exeter crews competed for medals at the NEIRA Championships on Lake Quinsigamond, spring teams renewed the storied Exeter/Andover rivalry on the Andover campus, and members of the boys tennis program battled at the New England Prep School Individual Tennis Tournament hosted by Choate.

Crew brings home hardware

The day began on Lake Quinsigamond where Exeter rowing delivered one of the strongest collective performances of the season at the NEIRA Championships. All six Exeter boats advanced to their respective Grand Finals and returned home with medals. The boys third 8+ earned bronze in 5:00.748, while the boys second 8+ also captured bronze in 4:50.717, missing silver by just 0.017 seconds. Exeter's boys first 8+ turned in a tremendous race to secure silver in 4:34.331. On the girls side, the third 8+ earned silver in 5:36.665, while the girls second 8+ and first 8+ each collected bronze medals with times of 5:28.219 and 5:17.338, respectively.

Exeter/Andover renew the rivalry

In Andover, boys track and field closed out a dominant spring campaign with a convincing 116-29 victory over the Blue just one week after claiming the New England Division I Championship. Jordan Hayden once again starred for Big Red, winning the 100m in 10.99 and the 200m in 21.47 while also anchoring the victorious 4x100 relay team that crossed in 42.34. Bo Howland-Vlahakis captured the 3000m in 9:01.74, while Caden Green continued his exceptional season with wins in both the discus (196-09) and shot put (56-11.25). Carter Johnson added another field event victory in the javelin at 185-01. Exeter capped the afternoon with a dramatic finish in the 4x400 relay as Collin Moore, Alex Sahinoglu, Alex Harwich, and Rhys Cunningham surged to victory in 3:23.37, with Cunningham making up ground over the final 100 meters to edge Andover by just 0.43 seconds. On the girls side, Lily Sabol won the 300m hurdles in 47.08 and Norah Pratt captured the 3000m in 10:40.75. Emmanuella Foloruso (100m), Ayana Okuneye (200m), Rylie Choi (400m), and Ava Bullock (1500m) each added runner-up finishes for Big Red.

Boys lacrosse battled through a back-and-forth contest that featured momentum swings throughout the afternoon. Trailing 9-6 in the third quarter, Exeter stormed back behind five consecutive goals from Tyler Callander, Church Salathe, Callander again, Tommy Lombardi, and Bryce Bertanzetti to seize an 11-9 lead. Andover answered with four straight goals of its own to move back in front 13-11 before Callander struck again with just over a minute remaining to cut the deficit to one. Exeter pushed until the final horn, but the Blue held on for the narrow victory. Earlier in the day, boys JV lacrosse also found itself in a thriller, falling 13-12 in overtime in a competitive 6v6 matchup.

Varsity baseball dropped a 6-1 decision despite a strong outing from senior Josh Rohloff on the mound. Rohloff tossed five innings, allowing just four hits and three runs while striking out six. Logan McIntyre paced the offense with a pair of hits, while Thad McConnell doubled and scored Exeter's lone run of the afternoon. Boys JV baseball was edged 2-0 in another tightly contested game, with Tiger Mao striking out eight batters across five strong innings of work.

Softball battled throughout the afternoon against the Blue. Ella Shea, Regan Coco, Paris Tran, and Pheobe Elting each recorded hits for Big Red, though Andover came away with a 10-0 victory.

Girls varsity lacrosse opened the weekend festivities on Friday night before falling to the Blue 21-5, while girls JV lacrosse dropped a 10-2 contest on Saturday.

Boys Tennis competes at NEPSITT Championships

The Exeter boys tennis team competed at the New England Prep School Individual Tennis Tournament, where several members of the squad made deep runs in their respective brackets.

Art Chinsupakul advanced to the semifinals of the "A" singles championship draw after earning victories of 8-2 and 6-2 before falling in a tightly contested 7-9 semifinal match. Josh Mullen reached the quarterfinals of the "A" singles bracket after an 8-5 opening-round victory.

Sam Medina captured the "B" singles championship in impressive fashion as the No. 7 seed, stringing together wins of 8-1, 6-0, and 8-5 to secure the title.

In doubles action, Nathan Liu and Neal Veerana won their opening-round match before falling in the quarterfinals, while Luke Sanders and Hugo Shinn advanced to the semifinal round.