NA rowers show their class in Canada

Sunday May 31st: Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada

North Allegheny High School took 8 senior rowers to participate in the 3 day Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association regatta this past weekend. This regatta, formerly known as and still referred to as "Canadian Schoolboys", at Saint Catharines takes place on a 2000 meter course with exceptional views and a full-fledged grandstand seating over a thousand. The regatta ran like clockwork and was a pleasure to attend. Weather was perfect for heats on Friday but racing was made substantially more difficult when afternoon winds of more than 20 miles an hour appeared for the weekend's races. Heats are more complex for this regatta than in the US since the race organizer wants the fastest boats in semis and finals rather than those that finish in, say, the top three of heats. Heat winners automatically progress and all other lanes are filled by the fastest boat times, regardless of heat finish order.

The Girls Quadruple boat featured stroke Katelyn Hilderbrand, Jordan Herbert in 3, Michelle Weaver in 2 and Maria DeIuliis in bow. Finishing with the 9th fastest time (of 29 boats) in heats on Friday, the girls qualified for Saturday morning's semi final but were inched out into fourth place thus missing the final where Philly-based arch rival Conestoga took bronze among five very competitive Canadian high school teams.

In the Boys bracket there were 14 entries in the quad with two Saturday heats and a Sunday final. NA's quad of Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick and Dan Jefferies rowed through the chop and led their heat with 100 to go but a determined effort from Conestoga (who had already medaled at Stotesbury and US Scholastic Nationals over the prior two weeks) saw them get past NA by 27/100ths of a second. NA's time was fourth fastest of all entries so they progressed through to Sunday's final. NA's medal chances were dashed at the start of the final when the chop at the start hit the boat broadside causing a tip and blades way too deep in the water. Recovering from last spot after the first 500 meters the boys powered their way back up to fourth place in a typically gutsy row, but outside the medals by 6.72 seconds. The event was won by locals E.L. Crossley in dominant style with a boat that featured a pair of rowers that had already represented their country on the international stage.

No medals, but more evidence that NA can row and compete with the best. Thanks to Coach Bergen for another long weekend of racing and travel and to the Weaver/Engler/Jefferies parent chaperones for their support.

NA Rowing Team concludes rowing season with Silver at Stotesbury Cup

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, sponsored by the Schuylkill Navy, is "the world's oldest and largest high school rowing competition." It is held annually in mid-May over a two-day period along the Schuylkill River near Boathouse Row (see Wikipedia entry) in Philadelphia. Although there is no official U.S. national high school rowing championship, Stotesbury is certainly one of the most prestigious. Competing crews come from schools all over North America, though most hail from the Northeastern, Southern and Mid-Atlantic United States.

Stotesbury's unique racing format does not have heats, 6 boats across racing in the normal sprint fashion, as the opening event. Rather, each event goes in a time trial format, similar to a head race, but only covering 1500 meters. The starting order is based on the finish order from the previous year's regatta. The best crews advance to the semi-final round. Semi-finals begin later on the first day and continue on the second day. Finals begin in the afternoon of the second day. Events are ordered so that small boats race before the larger ones, and the regatta culminates in either the Boy's or Girl's Senior Eight final race, alternating every year. After each final is finished, the best three boats dock at the grandstands next to the finish line to receive their medals.

The Stotesbury Cup Regatta continues to grow in size and level of competition as high school rowing gains popularity. In 2000, about 3,500 athletes competed in the regatta. In 2009, over 5,250 athletes from 181 schools competed in 868 boats to make it the largest Stotesbury yet.

North Allegheny entered 11 boats for the event and after the time trials had concluded mid-way through Friday, 8 had made their way to either semi-finals or grand finals! Casualties were the Boy's Junior Four (Billy Brant, Cole Lennon, John Rectenwald, Evan Solic with Maria DeIuliis coxing), Girl's Junior 4 (Madison Treser, Ellie Duursma, Hayley Rosen, Christine Frazier with Meghan Wilson coxing), and Boy's Senior double (Steven Genise and Noah Krassenstein). NA finished in the top 5 finishers in time trials in the Girl's Lightweight double (Tori Horn and Liz Craig, 3rd), Girl's Senior double (Jordan Herbert and Maddie Gray, 5th), Girl's Senior quad (Kim Gilmour, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Michelle Weaver, Maria DeIuliis, 3rd) and Boy's Senior quad (Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick, Dan Jefferies, 4th). Also making semi-finals were the Boy's Lightweight Double (Kevin Huber, Andrew Spirk, 8th), Boy's Junior Quad (Zach Petronic, Dave McQuiston, Kurt Schoffstall, Mike Durbiano, 8th) Girl's Junior Quad (Lauren Vespoli, Merel Duursma, Abi Gunn, Lauren Larocca), 8th), and Girl's Junior Double (Michelle Benson, Jess Pegher).

Semi-finals (held in a 6-lane "sprint" format), thinned the ranks of the NA Rowing team, eliminating 4 of our 8 remaining boats on Friday afternoon.

Friday's perfect conditions gave way to more ominous looking skies on Saturday, but the constantly present threat of thunderstorms fortunately never materialized. In the morning, Gray/Herbert narrowly missed qualifying for finals in Girl's Sr. Double, but our spirits got a boost when the Girl's Sr. Quad survived semi-finals to advance to finals. This left 3 boats in finals (2 had gone straight to finals without the need for semis). First up was the Girl's Lightweight Double (Tori Horn, Liz Craig). Despite a great effort the girls came up 6 seconds short of 3rd place, finishing just out of the medals in 4th place.

Our patience was finally rewarded when the Girl's Senior Quad (Kim Gilmour, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Michelle Weaver, Maria DeIuliis) won Silver, less than 7 seconds behind a strong team from Episcopal, and beating third place by 16 seconds. Our Boy's Senior Quad (Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick, Dan Jefferies) ran into some misfortune early in the race and weren't able to make up the precious seconds that were lost, finishing in a respectable 5th place in what can only be described as a very competitive field.

Coach Mike Bergen was pleased with the team's performance. "We did very well", he commented. "Any time you can advance 8 of 11 boats to semi-finals, and come away with any medals at all, you can be proud of yourself. This is the most competitive high school event in the country".

Check out pictures!
Boats that made finals are on our Youtube site!

Tiger Rowing roars back in Cincinnati with 9 medal haul

What a difference a week makes! Especially since we had been denied any water time by the elements since the Moraine race. North Allegheny Rowing Association traveled west to Harsha Lake outside Cincinnati to take on the best of the mid-west at the Midwest Scholastic Championships regatta on Saturday/Sunday, May 9th/10th . This event is "the playoffs" for area scholastic rowing and, like most playoffs, it's all about the matchups. While last week's Pittsburgh Sprints events don't match up well against our team's talents, the MidWest Scholastic Championships includes sculling events at all levels and that certainly played to NA's strength. The team brought home 9 medals (4 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Bronze), 3 more than collected in '08 and '07. The Women's team finished 4th in the overall Women's point standings (up from 5th last year) and the Men finished 5th, up from 6th. Not bad when you consider all the powerhouses faced such as Ann Arbor Pioneer, New Trier from Chicago, St Ignatius from Cleveland and hometown Cincinnati Country Day. The course at Harsha Lake is a straight 1500 buoyed meters with good up-close race viewing. Weather was foul on Saturday with high winds suspending racing for almost 6 hours. Blessedly, all missed races were incorporated into an early start on Sunday which was a picture-perfect day for rowing with excellent conditions and good tailwinds.

NA started with a 3rd place finish for the Jess Mazur-coxed Women's Novice 4+ heat with Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Christina Hunkele and Sarah Sharpnack - only first 2 qualifying for the afternoon final. The Men's double featured two NA boats: Mark Dissen and Jim Rectenwald finished third in their heat and Noah Krassenstein and Steve Genise finished second in their heat so both boats made finals. In the final, Mark and Jim clawed their way to a bronze medal with Noah and Steve finishing 6th. The Men's Lightweight Novice four was next up and Eric McQuiston, Sean Kurtz, Jake Lennon and Andre Ficerai, coxed by Macy DiRienzo, took seventh in their heat. After that came Nicole Rotunno coxing Jen Milkey, Michelle Benson, Hayley Rosen and Christine Frazier to a seventh place finish in the Women's Junior 4 heat. NA took 4th place in the Men's Junior 4 heat with Mark Pollini coxing Cole Lennon, Billy Brant, John Rectenwald and Evan Solic. NA's first gold medal of the regatta came from the newly-formed Women's Lightweight double featuring senior stroke Tori Horn and sophomore bow Liz Craig. They won their heat comfortably and improved by 44 seconds to take gold ahead of Ellis School. Rowing done well looks effortless and these girls rowed beautifully as one and set a solid pace that no-one could match. Great work, ladies.

The Women's double again featured two NA boats: Jen Milkey and Michelle Benson finished 5th in the first heat while Jordan Herbert and Maddie Gray took second in their heat behind Culver before rowing to a silver medal in the finals behind a regular foe from Shaker Heights in Cleveland. Thankfully, the Shaker girls are not entered for Stotesbury! The next event was the Men's Pair. This is a sweep event and the first ever pairing of seniors Canaan Colwick and Dan Jefferies outside a sculling boat. Amazingly the pair won their heat in the fastest of the 3 heats and went on to take silver behind Grosse Ile, MI for NA's first sweep medal at MidWests for a very long time. The Women's Novice 8 of Jess Mazur, Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Maureen Crammond, Ellie Duursma, Jen Miller, Sarah Sharpnack, Christine Hunkele and Val Koptya finished fifth in a heat won by eventual winner New Trier. Kim Gilmour took another silver medal when she finished behind North Catholic ace Steph Kuntz in the Women's single. The Men's Lightweight double saw Andrew Spirk and Kevin Huber just miss out on a medal when they finished fourth behind Southgate Anderson from Detroit. Another gold was soon to follow as the Women's JV Quad dominated their straight final to win comfortably. Good work from the Laurens Vespoli and Larocca, Merel Duursma and Jess Pegher. The Women's Varsity quad of Kim Gilmour, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Michelle Weaver and Maria DeIuliis were beaten by 1.55 seconds in their final to earn another silver behind host Cincinnati Country Day.

The Men' s Junior 8 of Jamie Milone/Mark Pollini, Dave McQuiston, Zac Petronic, Mike Durbiano, Kurt Schoffstall, Steve Genise, Evan Solic, Billy Brant and Cole Lennon did well to take 3rd in their heat to qualify for finals where they placed 6th behind Loyola. The Men's Junior Quad was next and something unusual happened. Dave McQuiston, Zac Petronic, Kurt Schoffstall and Mike Durbiano looked in trouble with 250 to go and Culver ahead. They upped their stroke rating into the last 200 and pulled ahead to take gold. A sprint finish - indeed a rare and welcome sight! Next race was the Men's Varsity Quad where Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick and Dan Jefferies (the latter two hot-seating from their earlier pair and the third race for all four that day) looked done in the last 100 after disputing the lead with Southgate Anderson for much of the race. While NA was unable to quicken, Mercyhurst-bound Jeff Murt from Southgate caught a slight crab in the last 50 and that was enough for NA to get by, grab gold and win by a comfortable third of a second :). The Women's Varsity 8 (Nicole Rotunno coxing Katelyn Hilderbrand, Maria DeIuliis, Merel Duursma, Lauren Vespoli, Lauren Larocca, Jess Pegher, Michelle Weaver and Tori Horn) took third in their heat just missing finals. Congratulations to Coaching staff and crews alike for some gutsy racing. Medals and sunburn will keep reminding us of a productive, weather-wacky weekend.

Results are available via links from Regatta Central and Racetrak. Also check out www.ruframed.com - they have hundreds of pictures of NA rowers from the event (under Current Events). NA's next racing action is at the 2-day Stotesbury Cup event in Philadelphia starting on Friday, May 15th - toughest and most prestigious scholastic event in North America. Good luck to all.

Check out pictures. Stay tuned for videos!

Medals play hard-to-get for NA rowers at local regatta

North Allegheny Rowing Association traveled north on 79 to Moraine State Park to take on the best of Western PA and Northern OH at the Scholastic Sprints regatta on Sunday, May 3rd. Previously restricted to entries from scholastic teams (i.e. all rowers attend the same High School), this event allowed participation by Club teams such as Steel City and LetsRowPittsburgh. The former put a severe dent on the medal haul for sculling events where NA has previously dominated on the local scene. Beautiful weather and good water conditions endured throughout the day. The course at Lake Arthur is a straight 1500 meters with no lane buoys, and angles deceived spectators for much of the day.

NA started the day with a 3rd place finish for the Nicole Rotunno-coxed Women's Novice 8+ of Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Maureen Crammond, Ellen Duursma, Jen Miller, Sarah Sharpnack, Christina Hunkele and Valerie Kopyta in a time of 6:10:40 - only first 2 qualifying for the afternoon final. Next up were Macy DiRienzo, Eric McQuiston, Sean Kurtz, Jake Lennon and Andre Ficerai who finished 6th and clocked 6:17:58 in the Men's Varsity 4+ where our youngsters were overmanned by the older competition. NA had two entries in the Men's single sculls event but neither made finals: Andrew Spirk finishing 4th in his heat with a 6:24:44 and Dan Jefferies missing his heat's cut with 4th in 5:55:28. Current US Club Nationals and Canadian Henley champion Matt Maddamma easily won the Men's single for Steel City with three former NA rowers (Kam Palagi, Peter Joyce and Andrew Keiser) in the pack behind him. The Women's Novice 4+ of Macy DiRienzo, Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Christina Hunkele and Sarah Sharpnack finished 3rd in their heat in 6:48:36 but again NA missed the cut. The Women's JV 8+ with Nicole Rotunno, Lauren Vespoli, Lauren Larocca, Jen Milkey, Janny Liu, Hayley Rosen, Christine Frazier, Michelle Benson and Liz Craig finished third in their heat and qualified for finals where they improved by over 13 seconds to finish 6th in 5:44:81. NA's first heat winners were Jordan Herbert and Maddie Gray in the Women's Varsity double and in the Final they improved to 5:53:70 and took a bronze medal behind a tough Shaker crew. Both the Varsity 8 crews made finals.

The Women's crew of Kim Gilmour, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Jess Pegher, Lauren Vespoli, Merel Duursma, Tori Horn, Michelle Weaver, Maria DeIuIiis and cox Nicole Rotunno finishing second in their heat and fifth in their final with a time of 5:30:17. In the Men's bracket Jamie Milone coxed Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick, Dan Jefferies, Andrew Spirk, Kevin Huber, Noah Krassenstein and Zac Petronic to third in their heat and a sixth place in the final with NA's best time of the day at 4:49:91. Local sweep specialist foe Central Catholic filled the first three places in this event with their A, B and C boats!

Some events were run as straight finals: in the Women's single sculls Kim Gilmour took a bronze medal in a time of 6:47:85; in the Men's JV 8+ NA took 5th (Central Catholic having been disqualified) with Mark Pollini coxing David McQuiston, Zac Petronic, Mike Durbiano, Kurt Schoffstall, Steve Genise, Evan Solic, Billy Brant and Cole Lennon while freshmen Jake Beacham and John Rectenwald found themselves in austere company in the Men's Varsity double finishing sixth in 6:34:73. Results are available via links from Regatta Central. NA's next racing action is at the Midwest Scholastic Sprints 2-day event in Cincinnati starting on Saturday, May 9th.

Links for this story: Results, photos, Youtube videos.

NA rowers shake off the rust and improve at East Coast regattas

North Allegheny Rowing Association began the Spring 2009 sprint season by attending two regattas during the weekend of April 18/19. Racing began at the Olympic training facility in West Windsor, NJ at the Mercer Lake Sprints/ISA Sculling regatta on Friday evening.

Mercer Lake is a 7-lane buoyed straight course and the weather was particularly kind this year. Though the winds came up on Saturday around lunchtime, rowing conditions remained good. The regatta attracts a high-level of competition with marauders from Connecticut and New York as well as ourselves and Steel City from the other half of Pennsylvania. Many top Philly, Delaware and Virginia teams were in attendance. Results perhaps reflected our relative lack of on-water time as well as jangling nerves for our novice crews rowing in their first competitive race.

NA started on Friday with a second place for Maddie Gray and Jordan Herbert in their heat of the Women's Varsity Double followed by a seventh place finish for Noah Krassenstein and Zac Petronic in the Men's equivalent. Kim Gilmour took 5th in her Women's Varsity single heat to wrap up Friday's racing.

Kevin Huber and Andrew Spirk took third in their Men's Second Double heat to start off Saturday followed by a 7th place finish for Nicole Rotunno, Jess Pegher, Janny Liu, Leah Ference and Christine Frazier in the Women's Varsity 4+. Next up was the Women's Varsity Quad event where NA ran two boats: the A boat of Tori Horn, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Michelle Weaver and Maria DeIuliis finishing 5th in their heat and the B boat of Lauren Vespoli, Abi Gunn, Merel Duursma and Kim Gilmour taking fourth spot in their heat. The Men's Varsity Quad of Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick and Dan Jefferies finished fourth in their heat. Unusual to see neither Varsity quad make finals!

NA ran two entries in the Men's Second 4+ where the A boat of Macy DiRienzo, Eric McQuiston, Sean Kurtz, Jake Lennon and Andre Ficerai finished fifth in heat one and the B boat of Jamie Milone, Cole Lennon, Billy Brant, John Rectenwald and Evan Solic placed sixth in their heat, but both boats had near identical times. The Women's Novice 8+ of Jess Mazur, Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Jen Miller, Sarah Sharpnack, Ellen Duursma, Christina Hunkele, Maureen Crammond and Valerie Kopyta finished 5th in their heat. The Men's Second Quad of Mike Durbiano, Kurt Schoffstall, Steve Genise and Dave McQuiston took second in their heat. Finishing up the day, the Women's Octuple turned into a procession won by our team of cox Mark Pollini, Jordan Herbert, Maddie Gray, Abi Gunn, Jen Milkey, Lauren Larocca, Janny Liu, Michelle Benson and Liz Craig - our only gold medalists of the day.

On Sunday the team participated in the 5th Manny Flick event on the Schuylkill River in downtown Philadelphia. The 1500 meter course always proves challenging to novice bowpersons, since it requires steering through one slow bend near the start. This regatta pits Philly rivals against each other, with the odd interloper like NA in attendance. Results improved on another great weather day for the regatta and a boisterous mob of cheering, bell-ringing NA parents present. First up in the Men's Novice 4+ was Macy DiRienzo coxing Eric McQusiton, Sean Kurtz, Jake Lennon and Andre Ficerai finishing 4th in their heat. Next were Cole Lennon and Billy Brant rowing up in the Men's Lightweight Double and taking third spot. Kevin Huber and Andrew Spirk repeated a third place finish in the Men's Varsity Double before an angry bunch comprising Mark Dissen, Jim Rectenwald, Canaan Colwick and Dan Jefferies won their Men's Varsity Quad heat in commanding style. The Men's JV 4+ event was run as a Head race with Jamie Milone, Zac Petronic, Noah Krassenstein, Evan Solic and John Rectenwald taking 21st place out of 26. Also Head racing was the Men's JV Quad with Mike Durbiano, Kurt Schoffstall, Steve Genise and Dave McQuiston taking 7th of twelve entries. The Girls Novice 8+ experienced first hand the fine art of steering as the boat of Nicole Rotunno, Madison Treser, Gabi Tomko, Jen Miller, Sarah Sharpnack, Ellen Duursma, Christina Hunkele, Maureen Crammond and Valerie Kopyta finished 20th of 23.

NA had two entries in the Girls JV Double with Jen Milkey and Janny Liu finishing 7th and Michelle Benson and Liz Craig 9th of the 12 entries. The Girls JV Quad of Lauren Vespoli, Lauren Larocca, Merel Duursma and Kim Gilmour took 6th out of 15 boats while Jordan Herbert and Maddie Gray came from behind to win their heat of the Girls Varsity Double. The Girls Varsity 4+ of Jess Mazur, Jess Pegher, Hayley Rosen, Leah Ference and Christine Frazier finished in fifth spot before the day ended with another gold for the Girls Varsity Quad of Tori Horn, Katelyn Hilderbrand, Michelle Weaver and Maria DeIuliis.

For results, see links below. NA's next racing action is at Scholastic Sprints on our "home" course at Lake Arthur on Sunday, May 3rd.

Links for this story:
Mercer Lake: pictures, results, Youtube videos.
Manny Flick: pictures, results, Youtube videos.
Also: sportgraphics.com (event photos for purchase).

NA Girls Place First in 2009 Indoor Erg Race; Boys Take Third

Amid loud cheers and in a frenzied atmosphere, 315 rowers from 16 area High Schools took part in the 9th annual High School Indoor Rowing Championships, aka the NA Erg Race. Central Catholic ran away with top honors in the Boys competition, Fox Chapel taking second and NA third. The NA Girls finished atop their division, with Pine Richland the runner-up and Fox Chapel taking third. In combined results, Fox Chapel scored the most points (111), while NA finished second with 90 and Central Catholic, despite being a single-sex school, finished third with 81 points.

For results, see Boys Final Results, Girls Final Results, Combined Final Results, Detailed Race Results.

Now available: Youtube videos!

And pictures! Check the Photo Album page!