Nine wins for ERBC crews at Sligo Head of the River

ERBC had numerous entries of Junior 14 and 15 crews and had nine wins.

Single sculler Zara Welsh had a very close race over the three-kilometre course with her namesake from Sligo and won by seven seconds at Junior 15 level. At the same age group, Emily Black and Jessica Kingston beat Galway in the double scull.

Also at J15, Harley Sheppard and Bruno Maguire Favro beat crews from Carrick-on-Shannon and St. Joseph’s, Galway and then in the second race, teamed up with Joshua Ihnat and Cillian Donaghy and Ben Cameron to handsomely win the J15 quad scull event from Loughros [Donegal] and Sligo.

At the youngest age group – J14 – the girls had a win in the double scull when Natalie Turner and Isabella Wright beat two crews from their own club and won again with seven others in the octuple crew – Darcy Balfour, Emily Black, the Davis twins, Brooke and Tori, Caitlin Kelly, Abby McCarthy-Magwood and Abbey Wilson.

Not to be outdone, the boys at J14 won a fine race against Carrick-on-Shannon. On board the quad were young tyros Shane O’Donnell, Oliver Carty, Jack Donnelly, Oliver McNeary and cox Meabh Murphy.

In the double scull, Donaghy and Ihnat won. Finally, the boys’ octuple were victorious – the crew was Caelan Moore, Oliver McNeary, Jacob Woods, Dara McMurray-Taylor, Cameron Bell, Adam Bullock, Lucas Boyle, Jackson Elliott and cox Abbey Wilson.

Attention now turns to the major Head race of the year on March 4 on the waters of the Erne.

The entry promises to be large enough to have the women’s race in the morning, with the men in the afternoon. Early indications point to reasonable weather with no great flow as the lake is very low at present.

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