On Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18, the girls crew team competed in the state regatta on the Occoquan River, just 45 minutes away from McLean High School. Their boat placed fourth out of nine schools, a major accomplishment for the team. Despite the success, some members were disappointed.

“It went okay,” senior Cambell Mechem said. “We did not perform up to what we were capable of so that was a bit disappointing.”

The girls had set high standards for themselves after a successful spring season and went into the race feeling confident in their abilities.

“I was definitely sad about this competition being my last, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be my last ever regatta because we had another competition the following weekend which made it less sad,” Mechem said.

Their performance began to fall apart right before their state competition when the girls crew coach told the girls that they would be leaving the program after this season. The news of their coach’s abrupt departure was a surprise to the team, and they made sure to have a productive last competition with their coach.

“Our coach also switched up the lineups right before we started and that messed up our whole boat,” sophomore Kensington Ruhl said. “I think that messed us up a little bit.”

Despite these challenges, the girls were able to support each other, manage their stress levels, and end the season on a high note.

“We weren’t allowed to yell ‘bow ball’ in our race, so when we passed boats, our [coxswain] yelled popcorn instead,” sophomore Kensington Ruhl said.

The phrase “bow ball” refers to the distance between McLean’s boat and another team’s boat.

“Even though we were feeling stressed about the race at the beginning, talking together helped us relax and chill out,” sophomore Leyal Barakat said. “We tried to remember that we need to have a positive attitude and race for the whole team.”