New Trier Rowers Take Top Spots at Milwaukee River Challenge

Submitted by New Trier High School

New Trier High School crews showed depth and speed at the Milwaukee River Challenge on Sunday, Sept. 19, taking top spots in races in Men’s and Women’s events.

This was the 15th anniversary year of the Milwaukee River Challenge. Juniors were first invited to compete in this event in 2007. New Trier missed the event only twice since then due to the race day falling on a religious holiday. This year was the first year New Trier has swept all junior events in the race, winning the Women’s and Men’s Junior 4’s and 8’s events.

Spectators who lined the bridges over the river to watch the races enjoyed sunny skies, mild temperatures and bagpipe music as both high school and college athletes competed.

The New Trier men had their best finish ever in the regatta, placing three 8+ boats in the top four places and all 8+s in the top eight out of a field of 22 crews. New Trier women had all four Varsity 8’s in the top 11 places out of 26 crews in their category.

“The entire girls’ team looked very solid and competed well at their first regatta of the season,” said Coach Rose Marchuk. “All boats are progressing well and are capable of contributing to what should be a very strong fall head racing season.”

Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said, “The Varsity boat pushed themselves and kept their composure in head winds to finish with the fastest Varsity 8+ time New Trier has ever had on this course.”

Praising the other New Trier crews, he said, “It was a great show of depth for the team, and we look forward to finding more speed in the coming weeks.”

Complimenting the Women rowers on their speed, Coach Rose Marchuk said, “The V8+ was able to row a very strong race with a winning time of 17:33.42, almost 13 seconds ahead of 2nd place Chicago Rowing Foundation’s 17:40.22 (CRF) and almost 51 seconds ahead of 3rd place CRF 18:24.27.”

Coach Kelp-Lenane said, “Both the 2V8 & 3V8 had fantastic races, and finished ahead of every program’s 1st varsity 8, expect Loyola. The 4V8 also placed well with an 8th place standing, only 25 seconds behind the 3V8.”

The rowers and finish times were:

Men’s Junior 8+

A Entry: 1st place, 15.36

c Hunter Hall

8 Myles Knight

7 Brendan Gridley

6 Galen Quinn

5 Rourke Pattullo

4 David Tigerman

3 David Theiss

2 John Dolan

1 Daniel Dreyfus

B Entry: 3rd place, 16:08

c Tommy Brittingham

8 Paul Sagraves

7 Harris Lerner

6 Paul Dustman

5 Griffin Dunne

4 Peter Figura

3 Ian Fargo

2 Daniel Pickard

1 Daniel Aiken

C Entry: 4th place, 16:25

c Josh Klein

8 Peter Chatain

7 John Spaulding

6 Brendan Gloyd

5 Patrick Spillane

4 Tim Zajdela

3 Aidan MacPherson

2 Cormac Simon

1 Jamie Ratty

D Entry: 8th place, 16:50

c Duncan Healey

8 Ben McCormick

7 John Marren

6 Brendan Traverso

5 Graham Michelson

4 Nate Denberg

3 Gustavo Gilchrist

2 Griffin Norton

1 Makhoul Cassis

E Entry (novices): 16th place, 18:07

c Ben Matejka

8 Ben Kolot

7 Mick Flannery

6 Charlie Fargo

5 Anders Kunny

4 Charles Coppieters

3 Scott Buzard

2 Ben Wiegand

1 Greg Demakos

Men’s Junior 4+

A Entry: 1st Place, 17:18

c Tommy Brittingham

4 Brendan Gridley

3 Rourke Pattullo

2 John Dolan

1 Daniel Dreyfus

B Entry: 5th place, 17:57

c Hunter Hall

4 Myles Knight

3 David Theiss

2 David Tigerman

1 Harris Lerner

D Entry: 8th place, 18:34

c Hank Rahaley

4 Simon Cormac

3 Jamie Ratty

2 Ben McCormick

1 Matt Meyer

C Entry: 9th place, 18:46

c Ben Matejka

4 Paul Sagraves

3 Griffin Dunne

2 Daniel Pickard

1 Daniel Aiken

Women’s Jr 8+

A: Tenacious (1st place: 17:33.42)

C Julia Bergquist

8 Grace Joyce

7 Carolyne Newman

6 Katie Schretter

5 Lauren Johnson

4 Bella Miller

3 Mata Stilp

2 Maddie Cottingham

1 Grace Cucco

B: Invictus (7th place: 18:52.40)

C Eden Rane

8 Hannah Skinner

7 Olivia Ingle

6 Kelly Keenan

5 Cameron Coughlin

4 Emily Lewis

3 Nicki Bukovac

2 Reilly Kyle

1 Kate Evenson

C: Ba (10th: 19:15:16)

c: Georgia Caras

8 Elise Sharkey

7 Allie Caldwell

6 Melanie Mandell

5 Rachel Melancon

4 Lulu Eshuis

3 Rachel Chiao

2 Emma Lipinski

1 Rani Duff

D: Hooyah (11th: 19:17.75)

c: Nicole Pofcher

8 Annabel Weyhrich

7 Josephine Olson

6 Cameron Cohen

5 Maisey Reardon

4 Frances Lafontant

3 Abby Schinderle

2 May Paddor

1 Jill Lerner

E (novices): (21st: 21:02.12)

C Gabby Capra

8 Jill Economos

7 Thea Atkins

6 Kinsey Hagedorn

5 Price Carlson

4 Ansley Scarano

3 Sarah Ann Duck

2 Lily Nicolaides

B Sabrina Morris

Women’s Jr 4+

A: Hudson (1st place: 19:10.59)

C Julia Bergquist

4 Grace Joyce

3 Caroline Newman

2 Maddie Cottingham

1 Grace Cucco

B: Ernst (6th place: 19:59.00)

C Chloe Jacobs

4 Katie Schretter

3 Lauren Johnson

2 Bella Miller

1 Mata Stilp