Saratoga Rowing claims 17 titles at state regatta
Area athletes leave Fish Creek with fresh hardware
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » The Saratoga Rowing Association boathouse was busy capturing 17 New York State Scholastic Rowing Association titles this weekend at the annual high school championships on Fish Creek.
After a full day of time trials down the 1,500-meter lined and buoyed race course, five SRA entries took home gold medals.
The women’s freshman quad of Lauren Hegener, Aisling Byrne, Isabella Bokan and Joanna Dalton rowed the 1,500-meter course in five minutes, 52.820 seconds to earn gold medals in the first championship event of the weekend, besting Shenendehowa second-place time of 6:02.190 and City Island Rowing’s 6:02.447.
The entry earned an automatic bid to the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championships May 26 and 27 on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.
The men’s freshman eight of Nicholas Dahlen, Karl Meidenbauer, James Cole Dennis, Maximus Tetu, Quentin Grieco, John Braeden Arthur, Michael Pazderski, Matthew Dahlen and Kurt Meidenbauer followed with their own gold medal performance with a time of 4:55.380 that beat out St. Joseph’s Collegiate and Niskayuna Rowing for the top spot. All three medal winners will advance to the SRAA event at the end of the month.
The women’s freshman eight of coxswain Grace Goodell, Kathryn Cuneo, Olivia Vavasour, Quinn McNary, Olivia Zwickle, Sarah Signor, Maecy Rickman, Analiese Meidenbauer and Caroline Grabowski garnered the 18th New York State title for Saratoga Rowing over the past 21 years with their time of 5:32.750 beating out the Saratoga ‘B’ entry of coxswain Skylar Shea, Isabella Bokan, Emily deVries, Elizabeth Emmich, Joanna Dalton, Lauren Hegener, Madison Hudson, Aisling Byrne and Kailey Baxstrome at 5:49.642. Once again the SRA freshman will look to capture gold again at the SRAAs in two weeks.
The men’s freshman quad of Maximus Tetu, Karl Meidenbauer, Michael Pazderski and Kurt Meidenbauer closed out Saturday night’s racing with a state title in 5:16.600 bested their own boathouse mates, the ‘C’ entry of James Cole Dennis, John Braeden Arthur, Matthew Dahlen and Quentin Grieco who were second at 5:27.682 and the SRA ‘E’ entry of Oliver Orthwein, Lars Ellwanger, Derek Zwickle and Jackson Katusha at 5:34.590. The gold medal boat will compete at the SRAA event in two weeks.
Sunday morning started out golden for SRA as the women’s lightweight four of coxswain Sydney Klotz, Paige Benfer, Catharine Griskowitz, Kathryn Grabowski and Madeline Dodd took home the top spot for Saratoga with a time of 4:35.500 besting Friends of Port Rowing by six seconds and the Nichols School entry by 13. The Women’s lightweight four became one of the first doublequalifiers for Saratoga Rowing, accepting bids to the SRAA event at the end of the
month and the US Rowing Youth Invitational in Sarasota, Florida in early June. Only the top two finishers in 18 select rowing categories earn entry to the nationwide event from teams from all make-ups, high school and regional club entries.
The men’s second varsity eight of coxswain Ava Carollo, Caleb Gordon, Cole Levy, Sam Dwyer, Payton Young, Joseph Bokan, Daniel Shaw, Alex Fragomeni and Maxwell Boivin led Fordham Prep across the finish line along with Liverpool and Albany Rowing Center with a time of 4:39.025 edging out Fordham Prep by more than a second followed by Liverpool High School in third, 10 seconds back.
The women’s junior double of Kendall Kane and Skyler Capello beat out Buffalo Scholastic and Burnt Hills for the top spot at 6:10.740. The Saratoga double will forego the New Jersey national and focus on the US Youth Invite in June.
The Saratoga Rowing women’s junior quad of Gwenn Taylor, Madeleine Macy, Brianna Bolen and Delaney Kilcullen captured gold by a 12 second margin over City Island Rowing and the Long Island Rowing Club in 5:28.480. The SRA entry will compete in New Jersey in two weeks at the SRAAs.
It was an area code 518 finish in the women’s lightweight quad Sunday morning as Saratoga’s Corinne Bruce, Shannon Kelly, Brooklyn Fensterer and Claire Campbell earned gold with a time of 5:46.400 beating out Shenendehowa at 6:08.284 and boathouse teammates Clare Kelly, McLaren Heck, Makaela Oehler and Caleigh Wagner at 6:14.716. The SRA lightweights will make the trip to New Jersey for the SRAAs in two weeks.
The men’s varsity double of Michael Newell and Emory Sammons utilized a dramatic sprint in the final 100-meters to best Shenendehowa by five seconds and Amadeusz Rowing Academy’s double by eight seconds. The two rowers have accepted a bid to the US Youth Invitational in June in Sarasota.
The Saratoga women’s varsity quad of Zoe Hasbrouck, Helaina Howe, Megan Varcoe and Margaret Allen earned gold with an eight-second win over SRA teammate’s Olivia Dolan, Stella Haley, Bradley Martin and Catherine Pazderski and City Island in third with a winning time of 5:15.130. Both boats are eligible for the US Youth Invite in June.
Sunday afternoon opened up with the SRA men’s varsity quad of Thomas Burke, Liam Millens, Michael Fairley and Nathaniel Marron beating out Pelham Community Rowing and Burnt Hills for the top spot in 4:47.700. The varsity foursome doublequalified for both the scholastic nationals in May and the US Rowing Youth Invitational in June.
The Saratoga men’s lightweight quad of Alex Fragomeni, Cole Levy, Maxwell Boivin and Benjamin Weatherwax bested Rye High School by 17 seconds and Niskayuna by 20 to take the top spot in 4:50.840 and earn entry to the SRAAs at the end of the month.
Immediately following the SRA men’s junior quad Daniel Signor, Payton Young, Joseph Bokan and Peter Hoffman had their names etched into the championship trophy with their one and a-half second win over Shenendehowa at 4:53.10 and a three-second win over Niskayuna. The Saratoga quartet was the lone automatic bid to the scholastic championship regatta in two weeks.
Rowing out of the Saratoga Rowing Association boathouse, but competing for Christian Brothers Academy, Soren Mercer and Alex Decker won by a boat length in 5:21.770 over Mohawk Homeschool and Rye High School Sunday afternoon, giving the Brothers an automatic bid to the Scholastic Rowing Association of America event in New Jersey May 26 and 27.
The SRA women’s second varsity eight of coxswain Lucy Mastrianni, Kendall Kane, Claire Campbell, Skyler Capello, Brianna Bolen, Madeleine Macy, Gwenn Taylor, Emily Dweck and Delaney Kilcullen earned a bid to the New Jersey national championship regatta with its 16 second win over West Side Rowing and 25 second margin over third-place Nardin Academy. The large boat also secured its own automatic bid to the SRAAs in two weeks.
The weekend ended with the Saratoga Rowing Association women’s varsity eight of coxswain Grace Wales, Catherine Pazderski, Madalyn Rascoe, Stella Haley, Olivia Dolan, Helaina Howe, Megan Varcoe, Zoe Hasbrouck and Bradley Martin securing the 17th gold medal win of the weekend, but again became a double-entry to the two available national championship regattas with a twosecond win over rival Albany Rowing Center, covering the 1,500-meter course in 4:56.510. Pittsford Crew was third at 5:02.340.
The SRA entry qualified for both the Scholastic Rowing Association of America national championship in two weeks in New Jersey, but also the prestigious US Rowing Youth Invitational in Sarasota, Florida June 9 to 11.
For complete results, times and more visit www. newyorkstaterowing.org