The Westerville club rowing team again has qualified a large contingent to USRowing Youth Nationals.
At the Midwest Junior Rowing Championships held May 19 and 20 on Harsha Lake in Batavia, Westerville had four of its boats finish in the top three in 1st varsity races to qualify for the national meet June 8-10 on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, California.
Last season, Westerville sent three boats to nationals.
On May 19, Westerville’s 1st varsity 8, which is stroked by Maddie Kirwin, finished third in 6 minutes, 42.25 seconds, while its boys 1st varsity 8 settled for fourth (6:03.31) to fall one spot shy of advancing.
On May 20, the boys varsity 2 boat of Adam Bloom and Lance Berry (second, 7:18.88), the girls varsity 2 boat of Kirwin and Tori Cooke (first, 7:49.82) and the boys 1st varsity 4 boat stroked by Zach Thurston (third, 6:34.82) all advanced to nationals.
The boys lightweight 8 placed fourth (6:31.02) to just miss moving on.
“As a whole, (Westerville) performed very well this weekend,” girls coach Allison Sobiech said. “After a long, hard season, the athletes really rose to the occasion and showed their strength within the Midwest region. We’re very excited to have four of our crews continuing on to compete against the best in the nation in a few weeks.”
None of the area’s other club rowing programs, Arch City, Dublin or Hilliard, had any boats qualify for nationals.
Hilliard’s girls 1st varsity 2x boat of Carolyn Satre and Francis Swindell placed fifth (8:02.93), while Dublin had boats place fourth (7:58.95) and sixth (8:52.11) in boys varsity 2.
For Arch City, the girls 1st varsity 4 boat stroked by Sarah Haney finished fifth (7:35.31).
julrey@thisweeknews.com
@UlreyThisWeek