Canisius High School won the Senior Eight event at this past weekend's South Niagara Invitational in Welland, Ontario. It is the Crusaders' first gold medal in this event since 2012.
 
The CHS combination was helmed by coxswain Noah Rajecki '25 and included Liam Feeney '25, Isaiah Aljuwani '25, Meer Renschler Pandey '25, Ethan Pirigyi '26, Trevor Wierzbowski '25, Brodie Vitko '27, Oliver Reynolds '26 and Kohler Stewart '25.
 
The crew took an easy victory in their preliminary heat en route to the final, where CHS and Ridley College (Ontario) separated from the pack in a duel down the course, with the Crusaders prevailing by 3.5 seconds.
 
E.L. Crossley finished in third, with the Canisius High School Second Varsity Eight finishing fourth, ahead of the top crew from Upper Canada College. This marks a flip from two weeks ago, when Upper Canada defeated the Second Eight at West Side's John Bennett Regatta.
 
The First and Second Varsity Eights travel to Cooper River in New Jersey this weekend for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America championships, which will crown scholastic national champions. Canisius finished fifth in both Eight events last year.
 
"Winning this final in the First Eight, with the Second Eight in fourth, positions us well to attack the race course in New Jersey," said CHS coach Jacob Filby '14. "We have some final adjustments to make in order to be at our best racing for a scholastic championship."
 
Coupled with the win in the Senior Eight, the Novice Eight crew of Andrew Harris '28, Linden Serbinowski '27, Joe Cheney '26, Collin Harper '28, Carter Micoli '28, Alex Pula '28, Elliot Embow '28, Eli Feuerstein '28 and Charlie Welsch '28 won their final by 9.6 seconds over St. Joe's Collegiate Institute and E.L. Crossley.
 
Other notable results include captain Liam Feeney taking fourth in the Senior Single final – his first ever race in the event – and the Junior Lightweight Four capturing silver.
 
Young athletes looking to start a rewarding career in this great sport or hone their rowing skills can do so by learning from our championship program during our Best. Summer. Ever. camps via canisiushigh.org/bestsummerever
 
Families interested in the decades-long winning tradition of CHS Rowing and the excellence only found in a Jesuit education at Canisius – ranked as the Buffalo area's "Best Catholic School" by Business First – can learn more by arranging a first-hand experience via canisiushigh.org/visit
 
This place is special. Let us show you why.
 
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