New Trier Rowers Strong at Head of the Rock Regatta

Submitted by New Trier High School

Under sunny skies, but battling strong winds and rough waters, New Trier crews rowed to victory at the Head of the Rock regatta on Sunday, October 11, 2015 in Rockford, Illinois. The regatta included competitions among high school, college and Masters teams, from places from Michigan to Missouri.

New Trier’s junior rowers captured the most medals, 16, of all participants at this regatta, besting all other programs, both at the junior and collegiate level.

Varsity coxswain Eden Rane said “very strong headwind and massive wakes” made the course choppy, but that crews stayed composed, clean and sharp.

New Trier entered 24 boats in 14 races; 15 boats won medals in 11 of those races. The Mens Varsity 8+ raced twice, winning both the Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ events. The Womens Open Lightweight 4+ crews came in first and second. Novice Boys had their best showing ever at the Head of the Rock regatta, taking first, second and fourth places out of 12 boats. The Novice Girls also had a strong performance, winning the Novice 4+ event.

Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said, “It was great seeing this group of athletes continue their success and show the depth of our speed in a more competitive field at the Head of the Rock. This was the highest level of competition we see as an entire team in the fall and everyone stepped up to race.”

Coach Rose Marchuk had her eye on the next big regatta, the prestigious Head of the Charles Race in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “While placing 3rd and for not a lot of practice in the 4’s and with relatively even lineups, New Trier accomplished their objective of getting another training row in before the Head of the Charles next weekend. Later in the day, they were able to finish 2nd in the priority Varsity 8+ boat that will compete in Boston.”

Praising the record-setting performance of his Novice crews, Coach Josip Stolar said,

“Having three NT novice eights among the top four out of 12 boats shows how deep the talent is on this team, and it is a result of a hard work and dedication of our novice boys.”

The wind and waves increased significantly in the afternoon, Coach Hope Poor said, and the Novice 8+ was a bit fatigued from their earlier row. Despite this, the NT girls finished one minute slower than the winning boat, about the same differential as when they competed in Milwaukee, and were only 1.4 seconds out of second place.

Coach Matt Clark called the Mens Junior 8+ first-place showing “a really solid race. During the race they were rowing long and aggressive at around 32 strokes per minute. Despite a significant headwind, they were able to maintain long strokes and direct catches. All in all, they had an outstanding piece and were pleased with it when they got off the water.”

Coach Sandy Culver said, “Finishing first and second in the Lightweight Womens 4+ was impressive and definitely bodes well for the lightweight rowing this Spring.”

Medals won were:

1st place:

Mens Junior 8+

Mens Junior Novice 8+

Womens Junior Novice 4+

Mens Junior 8+

Womens Open Lightweight 4+

2nd place:

Mens Junior 8+

Womens Open Lightweight 4+

Mens Open Lightweight 8+

Mens Open 8+

Womens Junior 8+

3rd place:

Womens Junior 4+

Mens Junior Novice 8+

Womens Junior Novice 4+

Womens Junior 4+ 2V

Womens Junior Novice 8+

4th place:

Womens Junior 8+ (2V)

The rowers were:

Event 23: Mens Jr 8+

1st place, 15:23.9

C Hunter Hall

8 Myles Knight

7 Brendan Gridley

6 Galen Quinn

5 David Theiss

4 Spencer James

3 Rourke Pattullo

2 John Dolan

1 Daniel Dreyfus

Event 24: Womens Junior 4+

3rd place, 19:05.09

c Julia Bergquist

4 Grace Joyce

3 Carolyne Newman

2 Katie Schretter

1 Lauren Johnson

4th place, 19:18.12

c Chloe Jacobs

4 Maddie Cottingham

3 Nicki Bukovac

2 Bella Miller

1 Mata Stilp

Event 30: Mens Junior Novice 8+

1st place, 17:07.45

C Jonah Rane

S Charles Coppieters

7 Anders Kunny

6 Charlie Fargo

5 Mick Flannery

4 Ben Kolot

3 Scott Buzard

2 Ben Wiegand

B Greg Demakos

3rd place, 17.57.68

C Linda Chiu

S Dennis Joyce

7 Will Ellerman

6 Noah Barkoff

5 Connor Chatterton

4 Chris Keenan

3 Aidan Fitzgerald

2 Everett Cienkus

B Daniel Park

4th place, 17:58.83

C Andrew Kikos

S Grant Condry

7 John Turner

6 Pierce Brachmann

5 Peter Skinner

4 Sammy Fogel

3 Enzo Sorano

2 Nate Hartigan

1 Josh Pickard

Event 31: Womens Novice Junior 4+

1st place, 20:16.93

C Megan DeJoya

4 Jill Economos

3 Sarah Ann Duck

2 Hannah Lerner

B Price Carlson

3rd place, 21:12.30

C Rachel Rane

4 Lily Nicolaides

3 Francie Hackett

2 Marilyn Gao

2 Thea Atkins

6th place, 22:11.39

C Hayden Snow

4 Kinsey Hagedorn

3 Sabrina Morris

2 Katy Dickman

B Holly Fessler

Event 46: Mens Junior 8+

1st place, 15:51.56

C: Josh Klein

8: Peter Chatain

7: Lorenzo Miller

6: Daniel Pickard

5: John Spaulding

4: Peter Figura

3: Patrick Spillane

2: Brendan Gloyd

1: Makhoul Cassis

2nd place, 16:07.21

C Tommy Brittingham

8 Paul Sagraves

7 Harris Lerner

6 David Tigerman

5 Griffin Dunne

4 Paul Dustman

3 Ian Fargo

2 Daniel Aiken

1 Jamie Ratty

4th place, 16:55.71

C: Ben Matejka

8: Ben McCormick

7: Gustavo Gilchrist

6: Brendan Traverso

5: Graham Michelson

4: Cormac Simon

3: Aidan MacPherson

2: Griffin Norton

1: John Marren

Event 47: Womens Junior 4+

3rd place, 20:58.70

c: Nicole Pofcher

4 Emma Lipinski

3 Cameron Cohen

2 Frances LaFontant

1 Stephanie Song

Event 48: Womens Open Lightweight 4+

1st place, 20:55.46

c: Georgia Caras

4 Libby Dickerson

3 Rani Duff

2 Josephine Olson

1 Rachel Chiao

2nd place, 21:01.52

c: Gabby Capra

4 Annabel Weyhrich

3 Abby Schinderle

2 Jill Lerner

1 Rachel Melancon

Event 65: Mens Junior 4+

6th place, 19:09.18

c Hank Rahaley

4 Paul Sagraves

3 Griffin Dunne

2 Peter Figura

1 Ian Fargo

Event 67: Womens Junior 8+

5th place, 19:45.47

c: Nicole Pofcher

8 Melanie Mandell

7 Carly Schmeissing

6 Reilly Kyle

5 Maisy Reardon

4 Lulu Eshuis

3 Allie Caldwell

2 Emma Lipinski

1 Stephanie Song

Event 68: Womens Junior Novice 8+

3rd place, 21:00.77

C Linda Chiu

8 Jill Economos

7 Sarah Ann Duck

6 Hannah Lerner

5 Price Carlson

4 Marilyn Gao

3 Francie Hackett

2 Lily Nicolaides

B Sabrina Morris

6th place, 21:55.47

C Helen Kuhn

8 Kinsey Hagedorn

7 Thea Atkins

6 Ansley Scarano

5 Allison Elli

4 Emily Axelrod

3 Maddie Maleug

2 Allison Errath

B Kelly McNulty

Event 75: Mens Open Lightweight 8+

2nd Place, 17:01.07

C Tommy Brittingham

8 Ben McCormick

7 Harris Lerner

6 Daniel Aiken

5 Jamie Ratty

4 Cormac Simon

3 John Marren

2 Griffin Norton

1 Makhoul Cassis

Event 82: Mens Open 8+

2nd place, 16:27.92

C Hunter Hall

8 Myles Knight

7 Brendan Gridley

6 Galen Quinn

5 David Theiss

4 David Tigerman

3 Rourke Pattullo

2 John Dolan

1 Daniel Dreyfus

Event 95: Womens Junior 8+

2nd place, 18:29.30

c Julia Bergquist

8 Grace Joyce

7 Carolyne Newman

6 Katie Schretter

5 Lauren Johnson

4 Bella Miller

3 Nicki Bukovac

2 Maddie Cottingham

1 Mata Stilp

6th place, 20:00.69

c Rane

8 Charlotte Melgard

7 Olivia Ingle

6 Kelly Keenan

5 Cameron Coughlin

4 Emily Lewis

3 Grace Cucco

2 Hanna Skinner

1 Kate Evenson

Event 101: Mens Junior 4+

4th place, 20:01.36

c Duncan Healey

4 Peter Chatain

3 Lorenzo Miller

2 Daniel Pickard

1 John Spaulding