The FHC crew team has started its season off with a bang after only two events. The defending state champions have been an unstoppable force, first against eight different teams and now against its fellow Forest Hills competitors.

The crew team only had one regatta before this past weekend, where it faced off against eight different schools, including Forest Hills Northern, Forest Hills Eastern, East Grand Rapids, Rockford, Lowell, Northview, and Spring Lake. Out of the competitors, EGR took third place, Rockford took second, and taking first by a mile was FHC.

Since then, 28 days have passed, as spring break took a chunk out of the early season. But, evident by the performance of the team, they haven’t been downgraded in any way, shape, or form during the downtime.

This latest regatta was a three-way Forest Hills battle, with FHC taking on Forest Hills Eastern and Forest Hills Northern. This marked the second time the three have been competing in the same races, only this time it was head-to-head.

An important note to make about this regatta is the size of the teams. Forest Hills Eastern and Forest Hills Northern both have teams with considerably less size than Forest Hills Central. That said, it doesn’t mean that Forest Hills Central has a better program just because of its size, it also has many talented athletes on the team.

The meet itself, known as the Belted Gateway Regatta (also the “Battle of the Boathouse”), is an annual event hosted every year by Forest Hills Northern at the Forest Hills Boathouse, the shared boathouse of all three Forest Hills schools. It is always the first regatta of the season for Forest Hills Central.

In this regatta, the three teams faced off in 14 different races. For some of the races, the teams had multiple boats, meaning some teams walked away with gold and silver, gold and bronze, and so on.

In this “Battle of the Boathouse”, Forest Hills Central walked away triumphantly, winning gold in all 14 races. There were multiple races where the Rangers had more than one boat.

So in total, FHC finished the meet with 14 gold medals, four silver medals, and five bronze medals.

Coming up behind FHC was Forest Hills Northern, who won six silver medals and six bronze medals. Coming in third, not far behind Forest Hills Northern with four silver medals and two bronze medals.

This regatta was simply a show of strength for the Ranger crew team and a truly great way to start the season off with back-to-back victories.

“FHC Crew is truly the Kings and Queens of the FH Boathouse,” head coach Peter Ross said.

The crew team’s next regatta will be held on Saturday, April 30, although the time has not yet been set. The team will be facing off against multiple teams from around the area. If it’s anything like the team’s first two meets, it’s sure to be a good one.