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CLRA Competes At State Scholastic Championships

Above are members of the Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association who came home with a medal from the New York State Scholastic Championships last weekend. In the front, from the left, are Makenna Graham and Cassie Spillane. In the second row are Alexis Barron, Anna Jean Burt, Tori Lai and Alyson Edwards. In the third row are Sarah Quadt, Shannon McKee, Lauren Nelson, Leah Saxton, Keeley Hayes, Holly Morgenstern, Izzy Knapp and Anna Jones. Submitted photo

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Chautauqua Lake Rowing Association high school team attended the state scholastic championships last weekend.

This annual event pits the rowing teams of public and private schools, and club teams across the state against each other for the state championships in various boat categories. The CLRA Team brought four crews: women’s junior 8, women’s junior 4, men’s junior 4 and men’s varsity 4.

All teams raced on Saturday in a time trial format in which boats race the 1,500-meter course in single file for time.

Varsity men’s crew Jacob Carlson, Greg Oakes, Max McKee, Marty Dibble and Joe Dahlgren were the first CLRA boat down the course. Although they raced to a respectable eighth-place in club division they just missed out on a second final by three seconds. Their time was a personal best for them this season.

The Junior women’s 4, with their best race this season, finished second overall, 0.5 seconds behind first place. This solidified their second-place seed in the final on Sunday. Alexis Barron, Anna Jean Burt, Tori Lai, Alyson Edwards and Makenna Graham crewed this boat.

Above are the junior boys from the Chautuqua Lake Rowing Association. From the left are Frankie Farrell, Carson Hanson, Logan White, Blake Terry and Joe Dahlgren. Submitted photo

The women’s junior 8 boat with Holly Morgenstern, Leah Saxton, Shannon McKee, Izzy Knapp, Sarah Quadt, Lauren Nelson, Keeley Hayes, Anna Jones and Cassie Spillane rowed strongly in their heat. Finishing 10th overall entitled them a spot in the second final on Sunday.

CLRA’s final heat race on Saturday, men’s junior 4, consisting of Blake Terry, Logan White, Carson Hansen, Frankie Farrell, and Joe Dahlgren was a pleasant surprise. Overcoming the challenge of having three first-year rowers in a junior varsity category this crew rowed a solid race finishing just out of contention for a second final. Their strong performance was enough to earn them a bronze medal for finishing third among club teams.

On Sunday for the finals, head-to-head racing is held up to nine boats at a time. Boats back into a platform where their bow is held by an official until the race starts.

The women’s junior 8 started behind but quickly gained traction. As they rowed down the course, the boat quickly gained distance and overcame the boats ahead, finishing two to three boat lengths ahead of their nearest competitor. This earned them a bronze medal for third in club teams and 10th overall in the state.

CLRA’s final race for the weekend, women’s junior 4 was seeded second for the sprint. The crew had a strong start and a 15-second improvement from their heat race on Saturday. The crew finished third, holding off a hard charging fourth-place finisher. This gave them third overall in the state and a gold medal as the state champion club crew.

Coaches Nicki Ristau and Ali Odrzywolski were impressed with the team’s performance. Although the team only took four boats, three medaled at the state level. For more information on high school rowing, see the high school links at www.rowchautauqua.org.

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