LYNN — The St. Mary’s crew team recently had a boat compete at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championship Regatta at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, a major milestone for the young program in just its fifth racing season.

For head coach Will Goldenheim, competing at the event was a “huge milestone” for the program.

“It means everything for this program to get to this final. All of the work that everyone has put in over the last five to seven years has objectively paid off,” Goldenheim said. “To me, it means rowing absolutely belongs in Lynn. It means we’re officially on the map.”

Goldenheim said his goal for the program in 2022 was to qualify for the competition within five to 10 years.

“The way I look at it is that 2022 is our first real racing season. I had told our school leadership that in five to 10 years, I wanted a boat to qualify. Four years later, that happened,” Goldenheim said. “I feel like we have already reached our first major milestone just by getting there. That’s what I and all the coaches told the boys, and that exceeded expectations.”

The boat consisted of senior Evan Lowe, juniors Josh Hartenstein and Tommy Pelletier, and freshmen Kyle Cash and Jaxon Myette. At the regatta, the team did not disappoint.

“They had an awesome race. They rowed really fast, but at the same time, this was an eye-opening experience for everybody,” Goldenheim said. “We were competing against not just the best schools in New England, but some schools that are now in Florida for the national championships. We competed against some of the best programs in the country.”

After the race, Goldenheim said many athletes asked how they could improve and stay in racing shape during the offseason.

“I have never had as many kids come to me at the end of the season asking for training programs over the summer. I think success breeds determination and drive. They realize that they belong, but they also realize we are in a league with some very, very fast crews, and it’s going to take a lot of work to get back here next year and keep climbing that ladder,” Goldenheim said.

The team put in an immense amount of work this season and saw that effort pay off. However, rowing differs from many traditional high school sports because the Spartans regularly compete against larger schools with much longer histories in the sport.

“The kids, coaches, families, and the school put in hundreds of hours throughout the season. It’s just an unbelievable amount of work. A school like St. Mary’s is an athletic powerhouse,” Goldenheim said. “It has been a challenge to grow a sport that is unfamiliar to a lot of people. These kids are now competing with the best. In rowing, there’s no such thing as divisions. We are competing against every school in the league regardless of size, history and competitiveness. This is such an amazing feat because these boys came from a really small program at a small school where rowing never existed, and they’re racing kids who are possibly third- or fourth-generation rowers, maybe even at the same school.”

Despite losing a key member of the boat this year, four rowers will return next season, leaving Goldenheim optimistic about the future of the program.

“As a coach, I’m always bummed out when we lose seniors, especially one as strong and talented as Evan,” Goldenheim said. “But knowing we have four of the five guys coming back next year makes me very optimistic.”