'Breakout Performance' for New Trier Rowers at Cincinnati Invite

New Trier rowers gave what Coach Michael Wyman called a “breakout performance” at the Cincinnati High School Invitational at Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio, on Saturday, April 16.

Under ideal racing conditions—calm winds, sunny skies and mild temperatures—New Trier won 10 medals from its 19 entries (with only one crew not advancing to finals). The regatta included first-ever gold medal victories for the Boys 2V8+ and both the Novice Boys and Girls 8+ A boats. “An outstanding performance by all of our boys and girls that points to the depth of our squad, and clearly a good sign of things to come at our upcoming regattas this spring,” Wyman said.

Despite equipment problems, the Novice Girls managed to win the Novice Eight event for the first time at this regatta. “Racing side by side brought out their competitive spirit and they rose to the challenge, surprising themselves!” Coach Hope Poor said.

Novice Boys had the “best showing at the Cincinnati Invitational Regatta ever,” Coach Josip Stolar said. “We didn’t start the day so great. After analyzing all of our qualifying races and identifying areas we should focus on, all of our boats made a significant improvement in their final races.”

The 1N8+ came in first, beating Cincinnati Juniors for the first time ever; the 2N8+ came in 5th in front of our Midwest’s rivals St. Ignatius Prep; the 1N4+ came in 3rd; and 2N4+ followed, finishing 4th.

The Boys Varsity 2V 8+ captured first place for the first time at this regatta, ahead of last year’s winner Cincinnati. Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said, “This crew was in control of the race from start to finish. After their settle, they were up by a few seats, but pulled to open water at their move at the 1000m. Their sprint was also successful with two distinct moves for rating and speed.”

The Boys Varsity 1V 8+ performed well in heats, with a fast start and control of the race for the last 1000m. The final was challenging because when the crew was up by 1/2 length at 1200m, power boats created a difficult wake in which the crew had to row. “We bobbled and were not able to get back to our rhythm,” Coach Kelp-Lenane said.

Of the Varsity Girls, Coach Rose Marchuk said that in the heats, NT rowed the 2k course in 6:57.8, the 2nd fastest time of all 10 boats. Finish order was the same in the finals with NT placing 2nd to Cincinnati. In both races, NT had a very strong start and aggressive body of the race. “The starboard stroke and bucket rig is working well for this crew that was able to lead the field off the start and maintain contact with the winner for most of the race. To finish so close…is a good early indicator of the speed of this crew.”

Rowers were:

Girls Novice 8+ (A), 1st place, 7:46.8

C Rachel Rane

8 Emily Axelrod

7 Allison Elli

6 Hannah Lerner

5 Price Carlson

4 Alex Ganja

3 Sarah Ann Duck

2 Marilyn Gao

B Francie Hackett

Boys Novice 8+ (A), 1st place, 6:54.8

C Jonah Rane

8 Coppieters, Charles

7 Buzard, Scott

6 Fargo, Charlie

5 Skinner, Peter

4 Demakos, Greg

3 Pickard, Josh

2 Barkoff, Noah

B Sorano, Enzo

Boy’s 2nd Varsity 8+, 1st place, 6:33.2

C Josh Klein

8 Spencer James

7 Lorenzo Miller

6 Galen Quinn

5 Griffin Dunne

4 Daniel Pickard

3 Ian Fargo

2 Brendan Gloyd

B Patrick Spillane

Girls First Varsity 8+, 2nd place, 7:16.8

C Julia Bergquist

8 Lauren Johnson

7 Maddie Cottingham

6 Bella Miller

5 Mata Stilp

4 Katie Schretter

3 Carolyne Newman

2 Emily Lewis

B Katharine Phillips

Boys First Varsity 8+, 2nd place, 6:32.2

C Hunter Hall

8 Paul Dustman

7 Harris Lerner

6 Paul Sagraves

5 David Theiss

4 Peter Chatain

3 Rourke Pattullo

2 John Dolan

B Brendan Gridley

Girls Lightweight 8+, 2nd place, 7:18.2

c Nicole Pofcher

8 Grace Joyce

7 Kate Evenson

6 Charlotte Melgard

5 Rachel Melancon

4 Libby Dickerson

3 Rani Duff

2 Josephine Olson

1 Annabel Weyhrich

Boys Lightweight 8+, 2nd place, 6:27.6

and Second Varsity 8+ (B), 3rd place, 6:41.9

C Brittingham, Tommy

8 Knight, Myles

7 Dreyfus, Daniel

6 Tigerman, David

5 Ratty, Jamie

4 Simon, Cormac

3 Gilchrist, Gustavo

2 Aiken, Daniel

B Cassis, Makhoul

Boys Second Varsity 8+ (B), 3rd place, 6:41.9

C Brittingham, Tommy

8 Knight, Myles

7 Dreyfus, Daniel

6 Tigerman, David

5 Ratty, Jamie

4 Simon, Cormac

3 Gilchrist, Gustavo

2 Aiken, Daniel

B Cassis, Makhoul

Girls Novice 4+, 3rd place, 8:54.1

C Hayden Snow

4 Sabrina Morris

3 Kinsey Hagedorn

2 Hannah Lerner

B Micaela Montembault

Boys Novice 4+ (A), 3rd place, 8:21.1

C Joey Shenton

4 Dennis Joyce

3 Chris Keenan

2 Connor Chatterton

B Raz Allon