New Trier crews are top rowers from a single high school in Head of the Charles regatta

New Trier solidified its place as one of the nation’s best high school rowing programs at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Oct. 21-22, despite record-setting gusts of wind on the course. New Trier’s Varsity Men’s Youth 8+ finished 3rd out of 84 crews and Varsity Women’a Youth 8+ finished 8th out of 85 crews. New Trier was joined in the top 10 finishers by only two other crews: two powerhouse club teams from California, Oakland Strokes and Marin, both of which draw youth rowers from more than one high school. “New Trier was in great company,” said Coach Rose Marchuk, “For New Trier to be the top single high school finisher in both events is remarkable!”

Rowers battled tough weather conditions, with cold temperatures and record-setting gusts of high wind on the course. "I could not be more proud of this crew,” Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said of his Varsity Men’s Youth 8+ boat. “We were preparing for this race for weeks, and they executed our plan flawlessly. The conditions were ominous, but we achieved a rhythm at lower rating in the first 1000m to set a foundation for the 4800m race. The crew handled the high winds with flat, rhythmic rowing. Our cox, Josh Klein, steered an impressive course to pass two crews, one from England, to get a clear open course for the second and third mile.”

The Varsity boys finished in a time of 16:22.209, a mere 11 seconds behind the first-place finisher. Noting that New Trier has never placed a boat this close to first place at Head of the Charles, Kelp-Lenane said, “The fact that we placed so well in incredibly challenging conditions was even more impressive. We rowed well and pushed hard. It was their best efforts, and I knew that this crew's best efforts would end with impressive results. This exceeded my expectations."

The third-place medal earned by the boys “is only the third time any New Trier crew has medaled at this regatta,” Coach Rose Marchuk observed.

New Trier Varsity Women's Youth 8+ completed the challenging course in a time of 18:20.008, less than one minute behind 1st place Saugatuck, the US Rowing Youth Nationals 2,000 meter-course winner last spring. “The intense head and cross winds exacerbated the challenge for coxswain Nicole Pofcher's steering and her crew's ability to execute solid strokes to effectively move their boat,” Coach Rose Marchuk said. “Knowing that their competition faced the same conditions they forged ahead knowing their season of solid conditioning prepared them for anything. They all did an excellent job.”

Lineup for Youth Men’s 8+

Cox Josh Klein

8 David Tigerman

7 David Theiss

6 Harris Lerner

5 Peter Chatain

4 Paul Sagraves

3 Galen Quinn

2 Myles Knight

1 Jamie Ratty

Spares: Daniel Aiken and Griffin Dunne.

Lineup for Youth Women's 8+

C Nicole Pofcher

8 LaurenJohnson

7 Maddie Cottingham

6 Kelly Keenan

5 Mata Stilp

4 Emily Lewis

3 Carolyne Newman

2 Josephine Olson

1 Katharine Phillips

Spares Nicki Bukovac and Jill Economos

New Trier Varsity girls’ coxswain Nicole Pofcher said, “We were all honored to represent our team and school at the Head of the Charles. Racing against the top youth boats in the country was an incredible experience, despite the tough weather conditions with the wind on the course. As a boat, we ultimately executed our best race possible and are so happy with the outcome.”

Crew member Josie Olson added, “We were surrounded by 10,252 other athletes who had been working really hard to get there. It brought together high schoolers, college athletes, even past Olympians. It really made you realize, as much as you hated pushing yourself during every single stroke/ workout piece, it was worth it.”