×

Rowers Competes In Erie

ERIE, Pa. — The Chautauqua Lake High School Rowing Team traveled to Erie last Saturday for the annual Mercyhurst Prep Regatta on Presque Isle Bay. This regatta draws teams from Buffalo and as far south as Pittsburgh. Although the day was mostly sunny and hot, the winds were steady at 15 mph gusting to 25 mph, often a challenge for rowing shells due to resultant rough water. Fortunately, the wind direction was mostly across the course leaving only the first 500 meters with rougher water.

The team brought three crews to race this day. Women’s JV4+, Men’s Novice 4+, and the Women’s JV8+. The JV4 was first up in the second race of the day. This race was the second heat for the category; to advance to the final, a first or second place was necessary. The boat included Caroline Apthorpe, Alex McKee, Liz Kane, Mary Rose Slater and coxswain Stella Hren. The JV4 finished second only three seconds behind the first-place boat and advanced.

The second crew up, Men’s Novice 4, included Noah Miles, Jameson Sauder, Kenneth Marsh, Nate Laurin and coxswain Braley Lachner. The novices had a good race finishing fourth overall. A solid finish had them pulling ahead of fifth-place boat in the last 300 meters coming in with open water between them. Next to race was the Women’s JV8. This boat was comprised of Apthorpe, McKee, Kane, Hren, Zoey Shimmel, Slater, Abby Cama, Zoe Struble and Lachner as the coxswain. This race had all four boats within feet of each other at the halfway mark. After this, the CLRA crew added power and great timing to start pulling away from the group. By the finish CLRA won by 12 seconds with all others in a virtual tie.

The Women’s JV4 followed in their final, a five-boat race. After a restart due to a huge boat wake caused unfair conditionsu, the race began. Halfway into the race, all boats were nearly bow to bow. CLRA, in lane, made their move at this point. Bringing their stroke rate up to 32 spm, the CLRA women moved steadily ahead. At the finish, they crossed the line first, a full 4.5 seconds ahead of the other four tightly packed boats.

For more information on high school rowing, see the website at www.rowchautauqua.org.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today