New Trier Rowing Wins Five Medals at Scholastic Nationals

Contributed by: New Trier Rowing

NEW TRIER ROWING WINS FIVE MEDALS AT SCHOLASTIC NATIONALS

The New Trier girls rowing team won three championships at the recent scholastic nationals with all three boats winning in convincing fashion.

New Trier’s girls varsity lightweight four with coxswain, girls second varsity eight, and girls freshman eight all won national championships, and the New Trier girls varsity eight fought its way into a loaded grand final field.

“Nationals was incredible because so many boats on the girls team were very successful,” said New Trier senior Nicole Pofcher, the coxswain of the varsity eight.

The girls varsity lightweight four beat Merion Mercy (Pennsylvania) for the championship by more than three seconds. New Trier’s boat was stacked with four rowers who had previously won scholastic national championships. Senior Jill Economos picked up her second scholastic national championship after winning in the second varsity eight in 2017, and junior Emily Axelrod won the scholastic national championship in the varsity lightweight eight as a sophomore. Sophomores Lily Feinerman and Claire Melgard both won last year in the freshman eight. Senior Linda Chiu coxed the varsity lightweight four.

“We were pretty confident that this crew could medal at scholastic nationals, and they executed perfectly to bring home the gold,” New Trier Girls Varsity Lightweight Coach Sandy Culver said.

The girls varsity lightweight four highlighted a strong overall performance for New Trier at the scholastic nationals. The regatta was held May 25-26 over two hot, sunny days on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey. The teams raced on a 1,500-meter course with the Philadelphia skyline in the distance. The scholastic nationals include high school teams from around the country, and 183 schools (from Abington (Pa.) High to Yorktown (Va.) High) sent 548 boats to the regatta.

Ten New Trier boats (six girls, four boys) qualified for scholastic nationals; all 10 advanced through the Friday prelims to the Saturday morning semifinals; eight boats made the finals in their events; five boats medaled (finished in the top three); and the three girls boats won national championships.

The New Trier girls second varsity eight was absolutely dominant in winning its fourth national championship in a row. Junior coxswain Rachel Rane leapt into the arms of sophomore rower Katherine Figura as New Trier crossed the finish line more than nine seconds ahead of second-place Loyola Academy. In a sport where the margin of victory is often measured in tenths or even hundredths of a second, this was the second-largest margin of victory among the 32 event finals at the scholastic nationals.

“The girls picked up a lot of speed since the Midwest regionals as they worked hard to close the gap racing the 1V during practices,” Marchuk said. “After analyzing times from the heats, it was clear that they had what it took to win this event. They persevered, executing their race plan well.”

Senior Olivia Ingle finished her career with three scholastic national championships, winning in the girls second varsity eight as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Ingle was also in the freshman eight that finished second in 2015.

The New Trier freshman girls eight won the national championship for the second straight year, and have now won championships in five of the past 13 years that New Trier has been competing at this regatta. Quietly supplanting perennial rival Saratoga (New York), whom New Trier beat handily in a prelim, New Trier raced to victory in the final with open water, beating TC Williams from Alexandria, Virginia by nearly six seconds.

“The freshman eight was seeded first, and won their heat easily,” New Trier Novice Girls Coach Hope Poor said. “In the semifinal, their second place finish reflected our strategy to hold back slightly to save something for the final. This worked perfectly as they had their best race ever . . . . This crew rowed beautifully together for a team that had rowed for less than a year, and I’m so proud of their accomplishment.”

New Trier’s girls varsity eight finished sixth in the grand final, and Head Varsity girls’ coach Rose Marchuk was pleased with her team’s performance: “The semifinal that the girls raced earlier in the day took everything they had to place in the top two in order to advance to the grand finals. They have worked extremely hard this season and have been very adaptable to changes that could positively impact their speed. They gave it their all and represented NT well.”

Pofcher, echoed her coach’s sentiments: “In the 1V, we were placed in the hardest semifinal, and we rose to the challenge. We were sitting in fourth place for half of the race, and we needed top two to go to the grand final. We all bought into that goal and had an incredible sprint where we walked a full length on the boat in second, so that we were able to go to the grand final.”

The varsity eight led the charge for the New Trier boys with a second-place finish. This was the second straight year that the boys varsity eight finished second behind Montclair at scholastic nationals.

“It was one of the fastest V8 fields in recent memory,” said New Trier Head Boys Coach Nate Kelp-Lenane. “From the heats through the finals, multiple boats were crossing the finish line within 1-2 seconds of each other. I was proud to see our V8 race through the weekend well, and making progress with each piece.”

In the boys varsity eight final, Montclair jumped out to an early lead. New Trier pulled even roughly 500 meters in, and then Montclair quickly pushed back ahead by a boat length. New Trier closed slightly at the finish, but Montclair won by a little more than two seconds (less than a boat length).

“We faced a tougher field at nationals this year than is usual,” said senior Duncan Healey, coxswain of the varsity eight. “We did well in our final by focusing on our own race and not worrying about the other crews around us.”

In the short term, New Trier will get another shot at budding rival Montclair at the USRowing Youth Nationals, which will be held June 8-10 at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, California. Long term, six of eight Montclair rowers are seniors, whereas four of New Trier’s eight rowers are juniors and there is a strong group of young rowers in the pipeline.

As for the seniors, this was the last scholastic nationals for perhaps the most decorated group of senior boys in New Trier history. Seniors Peter Chatain and Galen Quinn closed their New Trier careers with two scholastic national championships (in the freshman eight and in the varsity eight as sophomores) and two second-place finishes (in the varsity eight as juniors and seniors). Seniors Lorenzo Miller and Patrick Spillane also won two scholastic national championships (in the freshman eight and second varsity eight as sophomores). Miller added runner-up finishes in the varsity eight as a junior and senior.

Healey coxed the freshman eight to the scholastic national championship and coxed the varsity eight to second his junior and senior seasons. Seniors Graham Michelson and Aidan McPherson were members of the scholastic national champion freshman eight. Senior Mick Flannery was in the varsity eight that finished second this year.

That’s 20 scholastic national championship medals among eight senior boys. Add in Sammy Fogel, whose varsity lightweight eight finished fifth at the scholastic nationals, and it’s an accomplished group.

New Trier’s boys junior varsity four with coxswain also finished second. New Trier languished a boat length behind the leaders for much of the race but mounted a furious finishing sprint to edge St. John’s Jesuit of Toledo by perhaps two feet for the silver.

“After only two weeks of practice in this boat, these athletes sprinted from fourth to second to capture New Trier’s first medal ever in the men’s junior varsity four-plus category,” New Trier Assistant Coach Charles Richardson said. “I’m proud to say these athletes are the prime example of having a goal and executing, particularly on the national stage against stiff competition.”

Other New Trier grand finalists were the girls junior eight, which finished fifth, and the boys varsity lightweight eight, which also finished fifth.

Based on their performance in the Midwest Scholastic Championships, several New Trier boats advanced to the USRowing Youth Nationals on Lake Natoma. The boys varsity eight and varsity lightweight eight will compete as will the girls varsity lightweight eight. Last year, the girls varsity lightweight eight finished second, the best finish any New Trier boat has ever recorded at Youth Nationals.

The following boats medaled at SRAA’s:

Boys First Varsity 8+ - 2nd place - 4:18.587

Duncan Healey

Peter Skinner

Peter Chatain

Charles Coppieters

Galen Quinn

Charlie Fargo

Lorenzo Miller

Carl Borsotti

Mick Flannery

Boys Junior Varsity 4+ - 2nd place – 5:04.383

Drew Nielson

Karl Florida

Lucca Figlioli

Pierce Brachmann

Noah Barkoff

Girls Second Varsity 8+ - 1st place – 4:59.132

Rachel Rane

Katherine Figura

Olivia Ingle

Allison Elli

Maisey Reardon

Eloise Trout

Lauren Duffy

Yida Hao

Marisol Cassis

Girls Varsity Lightweight 4+ - 1st place – 5:32.569

Linda Chiu

Emily Axelrod

Lily Feinerman

Jill Economos

Claire Melgard

Girls Freshmen 8+ - 1st place – 5:12.198

Bethany Senuta

Ava Blaugh

Sophie Burne

Aiden Casey

Ellie Cummings

Noel Knight

Lindsay Condry

Danette Denham

Mattea Carberry