Northville Rowers Start Season Strong

The season’s under way and it’s full steam ahead! With two regattas under their oars the Northville High School Rowing Club has launched their boats, and the rowers are steadily gaining momentum. At the Floodtown Regatta hosted by Ann Arbor’s Skyline High School on April 16, four boats qualified to compete in the finals with sophomores Brett Somerville, C.J. Daniels, Aaron Shute, freshman Mitchell Encelewski, and freshman coxswain Nicholas Bhandari securing a first place win for the men’s novice fours final. Junior Jackie Cole and sophomore Belle Cureton brought home second place in the women’s junior varsity doubles event, while Cole also impressed in the women’s varsity singles finishing second. Placing third in the men’s junior varsity doubles final were junior Frank Williams and sophomore Ryan Gourd.

At the Grand Rapids High School Rowing Invitational held on April 30, novices continued their advancement in earlier heats, hinting at a promising season. Mirroring their previous win from the Floodtown regatta, Somerville, Daniels, Shute, Encelewski, and Bhandari took another first place finish in the men’s novice fours finals, with a time of 5:42.03. In total, members of the Northville High School Rowing Club advanced 12 boats to the finals, with three crews taking home first place wins, and three more taking second place finishes.

In the women’s finals, Cole brought home a solid second place win in the senior singles event, while junior Maya Sankaran paired with Cureton to finish a close second place standing in the women’s senior doubles event.

With a one-two punch, Northville Rowers grabbed both first and second places in the men’s senior doubles finals. Senior Ashwath Muruganand and junior Jake Gourd brought home first place with a time of 5:32.53, while the duo of Williams and R. Gourd gained a convincing second place time of 5:51.11. In back-to-back races, the tenacious Muruganand captured first place in the men’s senior singles event with a swift time of 5:48.69.

All in all, an excellent showing from the rowers. New head coach Katie Larder has the team heading to Wyandotte for the Wy-Hi Regatta on May 7, where they hope to continue their success.

For more information visit www.northvillerowing.com

Northville Rowing Club is a non-profit, 501C3, rowing for Northville High School. It is a co-ed, no experience required, competitive club sport, with an opportunity to earn a Varsity Letter. We welcome 9th to 12th Grade students from NHS. We also have Learn to Row camps for Middle School students.