Saline Rowers Score Most Medals Ever at the Michigan Scholastic Rowing Championships

Saline Rowers Qualify 11 boats of 15 entered into finals with 8 boats earning top 3 finishes

Grand Rapids, MI,  —May 17, 2014 —

Saline Crew’s successful spring season continued on Saturday when Saline’s high school rowing club traveled to Grand Rapids for the Scholastic Rowing Association of Michigan Championship Regatta. Fifteen clubs representing thirteen cities around Michigan competed on the 1,500 meter course on the Grand River, just north of Downtown Grand Rapids. 

With the water near flood stage and the current was running fast and the course took rowers against the current in exciting heat races in the morning with finals in the afternoon. Saline rowers moved eleven of its fifteen entries into the finals in the afternoon and medaled in eight events, the highest medal count ever at this event by Saline.

The Women’s Varsity Double (Jenna Jansa and Rachel Weidmayer) led off the day for Saline winning their heat race and finishing third in the finals behind Grosse Ille and Forest Hills East. The Men’s Lightweight 4 (Graham Fox, Matt Burtell, Ian Marlow, Tim Burtell and coxswain Benjamin Read) followed capturing 2nd in their heat race and a close 3rd place finish, only 8 seconds off the winning time of Rockford and second place Grosse Ille.

The young Women’s Junior Varsity 4 (Jenna Jansa, Micki Collins, Alexandra Wagner, Lauren Lahie and coxswain Jacob Ball) and Junior Varsity 8 boats (Alexa Fansler, Mallory Hunter, Taylor Puckett, Laura Penny, Emma Frick, Micki Collins, Alexandra Wagner, Lauren Lahie and coxswain Jacob Ball) both qualified for the finals with top three finishes in their heat races, but finished out of the final medal count. The Women’s Varsity 4 (Alle Fiske, Alexis Wolff, Elizabeth Walsh, Sarah Loughman and coxswain Sarah Carter) finished 2nd in their heat with the 3rd fastest time of the 12 boats in the three heats and went on to finish 3rd behind Forest Hills North and East Grand Rapids.

The Women’s Varsity pair (Gavin Gallagher and Haley Pfeiffer) went straight to the finals and battled Rockford’s pair to a close 2nd place finish and ahead of the pair from Forest Hills East. The Men’s Varsity pair (Zayn Phillips and Nolan Dellot) also advanced straight to the finals and finished third in their race behind Rockford and East Grand Rapids.

After a third place finish in the fastest heat in this category, Saline’s Men’s Lightweight 8 (Ben Friman, Travis Krause, Graham Fox, Matt Burtell, Oliver Mepham, Matt Eby, Ian Marlow, Sean Hutfles and coxswain Victoria Wellings) finished 2nd in the closest race of the day, finishing .45 seconds behind the winning boat from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and ahead of rival Rockford.

The varsity 8 boats closed out the day as usual with close and exciting races.  The Women’s Varsity 8 (Sarah Buckeridge, Rachel Weidmayer, Haley Pfeiffer, Gavin Gallagher, Alle Fiske, Alexis Wolfe, Elizabeth Walsh, Sarah Loughman and coxswain Sarah Carter) placed 2nd in their heat and finished a close third in the finals behind Rockford and Pioneer. In the last race of the day, the Men’s Varsity 8 (Ben Friman, Travis Krause, Oliver Mepham, Matt Eby, Michael Pettit, David Johnson, Jacob Hargrove, Sean Hutfles and coxswain Victoria Wellings) also finished 3rd in their finals after a strong second place finish in their heat race.

The Hornet rowers will host a scrimmage race next weekend on their home water on the south end of Ford Lake off Textile Road before traveling across the border on June 6-8 to complete at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association (CSSRA) Championship Regatta on the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta Course  in St. Catherine’s, Ontario.

Saline’s team also tied for 4h place in team points with Forest Hills Central and behind much larger teams from Rockford (1st), ), Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (2nd) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (3rd).

More information can be found at www.salinecrew.org.

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For more information:

Contact Pete Pfeiffer 734/637-7577 or pfeiffer.pete@gmail.com