On Sunday, October 19th, 2025, three Hingham High School crew boats competed in the world-renowned Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) in Boston, Massachusetts. Two four-person boats, one the boys’ team and the other the girls, as well as one eight-person girls’ boat, raced down the Charles River on the warm, sunny day alongside hundreds of other crews from across the country. The girls’ team eight-person boat was raced by the first varsity crew in Hingham, consisting of senior captain and coxswain Emily Gu, junior Natalie Shaw, senior captain Louisa Orth, junior Eliza Powers, senior Sophia Santarelli, senior Thea Migliaccio, senior Jane Melia, and junior Bianca Kiley. As they competed on the river at 9:05 in the morning at the 60th Annual race, they placed 52nd of 86 with an impressive time of 17 minutes and 56 seconds.
In the four-person boat (quad) were senior coxswain Maddie Owens, junior Stella Gutierrez, senior captain Isabelle Wagner, sophomore Coco Prohm, and junior Annie Sargent. They placed 58th of 86, ending with a final time of 20 minutes and 10 seconds when they raced at 10:02 a.m.
Finally, the boys’ four-person boat crew consisted of senior coxswain Brent Strauss, senior captain Hanley Stroka, senior Lachlan Knies, senior Lucas Mangili, and senior captain Nicolas Mangili. The boys raced later, at 12:13 in the afternoon, and placed 59th overall in the race with 86 boats. After training all season for this once-in-a-lifetime race, the Hingham crews excelled well despite the pre-race day nerves.
Though not all rowers, despite the effort they put in day in and day out of the season, get to race at the HOCR, they come from all over to attend a day full of fun, watching other crews compete, and visiting vendors and shops set up around the Charles River. Grace Mullen, a sophomore coxswain of the girls’ novice one crew at Hingham High School, attended the race and said, “I really enjoyed watching the teams go by, especially the Hingham Varsity girls’ crew. Though it was only for a short amount of time, it was fun being in the environment.”
Junior Bianca Kiley, who raced in the eight-person varsity boat as bow seat, commented, “The regatta was definitely very stressful because of how crowded it was, but as soon as we got in the water, everyone was really locked in. During the race, we walked on 2 boats at the same time and continued to walk on them afterwards. We ended up in 52/86, which we were a little disappointed with since we wanted to get top half, but overall we were still really happy. Everyone did great and we really enjoyed the HOCR experience!”
Senior captain Izzy Wagner, who raced in the four-person boat, said, “The Head of the Charles is such a special experience. People come from all over the world to be part of it, and I felt so proud to represent Hingham High Crew. It couldn’t have been a more perfect race day. We gave it everything we had, and it felt amazing.”
The HOCR is the world’s largest 3-day rowing competition, which brings around 325,000 spectators, over 11,000 competitors, and uses 2,500 volunteers (hocr.org). This race was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these Hingham athletes, and they enjoyed doing what they do best. The team is looking forward to the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association (MPSRA) State Championship next weekend, where they hope to be as successful yet again.
