New Trier Crews Row Strong at Youth Nationals; Many NT Seniors Going on to Row in College

THREE NEW TRIER CREWS ROW STRONG AT YOUTH NATIONALS; MANY NEW TRIER SENIORS GOING ON TO ROW IN COLLEGE

Nationals Race

Three New Trier crews finished among the top teams in the nation in the U.S. Rowing Youth Nationals at in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida the weekend of June 12th -14th, 2015.

Qualifying crews from across the country representing both high schools and club teams competed over a 2,000 meter distance at Nathan Benderson Park, a challenging course which will be the site of both upcoming Olympic Trials for rowing and the 2017 World Rowing Championships.

In scorching heat and interrupted occasionally by stormy weather, the New Trier Mens Lightweight 8+ boat, a young crew consisting of 7 sophomores and 2 juniors, finished 2nd place in the B Final and 8th overall out of a field of 19 boats. The Womens Lightweight 8+ finished in 3rd place in the B final and 9th overall out of a field of 19 boats Varsity 8+ took first place in the C Final and 13th overall out of a field of 24 boats.

“This is the highest finish of any New Trier boys boat at Youth Nationals, so we’re pretty ecstatic about the performance of this group of guys,” said Coach Charles A. Richardson. “Coach Matt Clark and I knew they were pretty quick all year long with their results over the season, so the next logical step was to compete at Youth Nationals to see how they compared on a national level. I could not be more proud of these boys and look forward to seeing them maximize their potential to hopefully return in the future.”

Thomas Brittingham, one of the rowers, said, “Competing in Sarasota was unlike any other race we have raced before. Racing against the top crews in the nation on a world class course is something you don’t get to do very often, and I’m very lucky to be on a boat capable of doing that.”

Teammate David Tigerman agreed. “No matter what the result is, you will feel proud of your performance because you gave it your all against the fastest crews in the nation and you rowed for the boat.”

Coach Sandy Culver praised her New Trier Lightweight girls for progressing through the heats, reps and semifinals against tough competition by razor-thin margins. “I couldn’t have been more proud when they raced like champions in the final to finish 3rd, securing their place as the 9th fastest Youth Women’s Lightweight Eight in the country,” Culver said. “More impressive is that this crew included two freshmen who came into the boat at the end of our scholastic season, with only two weeks to train together for Youth Nationals.”

Grace Joyce, the stroke, described the regatta as “an amazing experience; it was an opportunity to compete against some of the fastest crews in the country. It’s exciting to see where we stand among these competitive clubs and, as our coxswain Eden Rane always says, this type of ‘pressure is a privilege’”.

Kate Evenson, the 5-seat rower on the boat, said, “Getting to race competition that fast, on a course that gorgeous, with a boat I love that much was an incredible experience. Those races are humbling in the best possible way. They’re amazingly difficult and I am so proud of what all of our boats accomplished.”

Storms forced the cancellation of Thursday warmups and Friday evening heats for the Womens Varsity 8+ boat, who were rowing the course for the first time ever during their heat Saturday morning. In their repechage Saturday afternoon, they placed 3rd in their race and advanced directly to the C Final rather than going to the Semi-final where 1st and 2nd place finishers competed for a race in the A or B Finals. In the C Final, NT won with a time of 6:50.597, fast enough to edge out Newport Aquatic in the last hundred meters of the race and win by about 2.5 seconds.

Coach Rose Marchuk said, “I was very pleased with how well the girls did at this high-level regatta. Riding along on a bike to observe every stroke of every race provided a unique perspective on how well they rowed and attacked each race. To be battling for 1st in their C Final against Newport Aquatic and to be able to respond to the coxswain’s call to pull ahead in a controlled fashion and then win by about a half boat length lead was exhilarating. They are great competitors with a bright rowing future ahead of them.”

Marchuk observed that the ability for all New Trier crews to compete as successfully as they did at such a world class venue and against the best youth rowing in the nation bodes well for the team next year. “It elevated the confidence, determination and motivation of all who had a chance to attend,” she said.

The Mens Lightweight 8+ crew consisted of:

C Thomas Brittingham

8 Myles Knight

7 Harris Lerner

6 David Tigerman

5 Daniel Dreyfus

4 Cormac Simon

3 James Ratty

2 John Marren

1 Makhoul Cassis

Spare: Daniel Aiken

The Women’s Lightweight 8+ crew consisted of:

c Eden Rane

8 Grace Joyce

7 Rani Duff

6 Libby Dickerson

5 Kate Evenson

4 Jill Lerner

3 Rachel Melancon

2 Josephine Olson

1 Annabel Weyhrich

The Womens Varsity 8+ crew consisted of :

c Talia LaSchiazza

8 Menley Denham

7 Carolyne Newman

6 Katie Schretter

5 Lauren Johnson

4 Bella Miller

3 Mata Stilp

2 Maddie Cottingham

1 Katherine Phillips

Spare: Nicki Bukovac

New Trier Rowers going on to college

The following New Trier seniors who rowed or coxed in high school will also row or cox in college:

Quinlan Behles—Santa Clara University

John Carberry—University of Wisconsin, Madison

Heidi Conaghan—University of Puget Sound

Isabelle Daellenbach—Boston College

Menley Denham—Bucknell University

Grace Gagliardi—University of Michigan

Jacqui Gossard—Cornell University

Neeka Haack—University of Illinois

Hunter Johnson—Princeton University

Joshua Kuppersmith—Harvard University

Talia La Schiazza—Trinity College, Hartford

Tom Lanphier—Choate Rosemary Hall

Daniel Linger—University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland

Emily MacAdam—Southern Methodist University

Zachary Vlahandreas—Syracuse University

Ray Weeks—Cornell University

John Wiegand—University of Michigan

Catherine Woodburn—Georgia Tech University

Other rowers will attend the following colleges:

Andrew Chiao—Boston University

CJ D’Amico—University of Denver

Natalie Denby—University of Chicago

Casey Figuerdo—University of Iowa

Julian Frankel—University of Michigan

Abby Joyce—University of Minnesota

Amy Meltzer—University of Illinois

Jose Rodriguez—Syracuse University