Cranbury’s Hawes, West Windsor’s Libfraind on national champions
By: Justin Feil
Even last year, there were signs that this collection of Peddie School girls could be a pretty good boat.
"We were the junior varsity boat originally," said Cranbury resident Erin Hawes. "We had faster times than the varsity so we became the varsity. But then two seniors left the program and the boat was jumbled up. Three of us rowed together."
Last year, that foursome reached was runner-up at the City Championships to qualify for the US Rowing Association Youth National Championships, but they did not attend because the championships were after graduation and summer plans had already been made.
"We didn’t expect to make nationals," Hawes said, "I was disappointed not to go, but I was hoping we’d have more opportunities in the future."
The Falcons put together another exceptional boat this year, with West Windsor resident Lauren Libfraind and coxswain Chloe Delany the final pieces of the puzzle. Hawes, and juniors Roxanne Carini and Brittany Tarabour were holdovers from last year’s top boat.
"I think we knew something was different when we first rowed together," said Libraind, who rowed in the second varsity boat last year. "We didn’t know our potential, how great we could be. But it did seem like a good combination of girls."
It ended up being the perfect combination. The Peddie four plus coxswain, coached by Steven Lloyd, completed an unbeaten season when they won the national championship in Cincinnati this month. Peddie topped second-place Pomfret School (Conn.) by 1.16 seconds. It was the first official national crew championship in program history.
"It was by far the hardest race anybody had ever raced," Hawes said. "It seemed incredibly long. We had one of our faster starts. We had a lead. By 1000 or 750, the other boat started to pull up. The sprint was an all-out war. There was incredibly intensity and chaos. Even an hour after, the excitement didn’t hit because we were so exhausted. We were so tired after that race. Then it hit."
Added Libfraind: "It was surprising and exciting. I think we knew we could do it. We wanted to finish the season strong. We worked so hard to get to that point."
And with every single member of the boat expected to return next year to Peddie, expectations couldn’t be higher.
"We want to continue to do well. It’s motivating," said Libfraind who will be a senior. "There’s room for improvement. I think we could. We could push ourselves on our times."
Both Libfraind and Hawes have seen improvement from themselves since they started rowing for Peddie as freshmen. Hawes had some experience from attending Princeton International Rowing Association beginner classes when she was a seventh and eighth grade student at the Cranbury School where she had tried soccer and thrown the discus.
"My aunt had rowed at one point," said Hawes who is heading into her junior year. "She had done some beginning rowing programs and she seemed to like it a lot. She said because I’m tall, I might like this sport. I got hooked on it. I was all right at other sports, but never great. I like the sense of unity that I got from crew. There’s not a real star. You have to work together. It offered more of a challenge than other sports I encountered before.
"Crew is my only sport now," she added. "Just this past week, I’m going through rowing withdraw."
It won’t last long. Both Hawes and Libfraind are attending rowing camp at Princeton University this week. Their goal is to continue to improve and make the boat even stronger when they return.
"After rowing with this group of girls for so long, we’re able to balance out each other’s weaknesses," Hawes said. "In terms of personal motivation, we’re all able to push ourselves more than last year. There’s definitely been a lot of personal growth. I attribute that to team motivation."
Libfraind joined the team when she got her introduction to the sport at Peddie. She has grown increasingly dedicated to the sport, as witnessed by her winters. She first played basketball in her freshman winter, then did the Peddie musical as a sophomore before this year tuning up for the spring season by doing winter crew training.
"It was something I’ve never done before," she recalled of her start. "It seemed interesting. I just tried it. It’s a sport that grows on you. You like it or you don’t. It’s hard work. It pays off in the end with teamwork."
Teamwork made the difference for the Falcons this year. It made it more special for Hawes to enjoy a national title with a tight-knit selection of friends.
"Our boat is much closer, a much more cohesive unit than it was last year," she said. "Last year, it seemed like a group of girls rowing together and this year it seemed like a boat."
It was a boat that grew together quickly, and that helped it produce outstanding results in the water.
"In the fall," Libfraind said, "we had a lot of success too. We didn’t know how good we were until the Head of the Charles, we came in second overall and beat Princeton University and were first for high school girls. It was apparent we were good."
There was only a little question of if the Falcons could be as good in the shorter spring courses as they’d been in the longer fall races. Peddie quickly showed it could as it won every race leading up to nationals. It capped off its season with the win.
"Making it to nationals was our goal," Hawes said. "We wanted to make it to finals. We exceeded my expectations incredibly. It was an excellent season. We were challenged so much. It was an honor rowing with the other girls and against other schools. Some other schools had girls from the junior national team. It was tough competition. We were so excited because we were able to rise to that challenge.
"We weren’t expecting it to be an easy couple days," she said of nationals. "Our coach had done some research with a couple of the other boats. He thought we could be pretty competitive. He said he had a lot of confidence in us. But we didn’t want to be overly confident."
The Peddie four with coxswain left little doubt, however, of just how strong a boat it is by capping off an undefeated season with a national championship. It might be just the first.
"Everyone is returning from the boat," Libfraind said. "We’re lucky to have another year together."
Only their opponents would disagree.