Sarasota Crew Closes Out Season with Win

Reigning Florida State Champion Sarasota Crew closed its fall schedule at the Head of the Hooch Regatta in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Sunday, Nov. 6.  

Sarasota Crew had 70 boats in the regatta, claiming five gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The team also beat 38 teams to claim the overall team trophy, a Sarasota Crew news release said.

"We had significant wins during both days of the regatta," said Head Coach Casey Galvanek in the release. "The entire team did a great job and raced extremely well. It wasn't just our first eight boats. Our second eights and our fours did well too, defeating some top competition."

• Sarasota Crew left Tennessee with gold medals in the Women’s Youth Eight, Men’s Youth Quad, Men’s Youth Four, Men’s Youth Double and Men’s Youth Lightweight Eight. Sarasota Crew boats won silver medals in the Women’s Youth Four and Men’s Youth Single, and bronze medals in the Men’s Youth Eight and Women’s Youth Pair.
• In the Youth Eights, Sarasota Crew’s Women’s ‘A' entry – comprised of Emily Goff, McKayla Taaffe, Devin Norder, Sierra Luther, Dale Main, Carolina Elizalde, Gabby Halula, Christina Warren and Kate Flanders, finished first out of 62 competitors in a time of 16:25.5.
• Sarasota’s Men’s ‘A’ entry – comprised of Grant Golub, Ryan Hails, Carson Green, Andrew Konecny, Travis Taaffe, Jose Colon, Ryan Houser, Andre Dupuis and Tony Rzepka finished third; while the Men’s ‘B’ entry finished sixth out of 61 competitors.
• In the Youth Single, Sarasota Crew boated a combined 16 athletes in the Men’s and Women’s events. Sarasota’s top finisher was Carson Green with a second place finish in a field of 60 boats, bested only by Canada’s top youth single sculler. 
• The Men’s Youth Four of Golub, Hails, Green, Konecny and Travis Taaffe followed up their October 23 win at the nation’s largest rowing regatta – the Head of the Charles in Boston – with a 22-second victory.

"It was promising to see the squad be competitive early in the season," said Freshmen Coach Andy Berster. "We spend the majority of our time developing the athletes in the fall. With the results we have had this fall we can’t wait for the spring."

Sarasota Crew returns to action in early February in Orlando.