CINCINNATI - Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club repeated as junior men's eight champions, while Oakland Strokes won the junior women's eight final at the 2004 USRowing National Youth Invitational Regatta on Harsha Lake, just east of Cincinnati.
For the fourth time since 1999 and the second year in a row, Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club won the junior men's eight title. Cincinnati used a strong start to jump out to the lead and built on its advantage the entire way down the course, crossing the finish line almost a boat length ahead of Oakland Strokes. The hometown crew clocked a 6:13.91 to finish 2.27 seconds ahead of Oakland. Saint Ignatius College Prep finished two seconds ahead of Mercer Junior Rowing Club to win the bronze medal.
"They took a seat or two in the middle but we took it back," said Cincinnati coxswain Brad Reis. "They were trying to pull hard, but we just pulled harder."
In the junior women's eight, Oakland Strokes ended Cincinnati's five-year stranglehold on the top spot by walking away from Marin Rowing Association in the final 250 meters to earn the victory. Oakland clocked a 6:55.30 to defeat local rival Marin by 2.59 seconds. Community Rowing finished third in a 7:04.08. Marin, which won its first junior women's eight title at the Youth Invitational, joined Mt. Baker and Cincinnati as the only programs ever to win the event. Cincinnati finished fifth on Sunday.
"We couldn't have done it without Marin," said bow seat Alana Kopkhe. "We've been competing against them all season."
Quad City Rowing Association's Otto Stegmaier and Demetrio Gagnon accomplished the rare feat of repeating as Youth Invitational champions. Last year, Stegmaier and Gagnon won the final by just over three seconds. This year, the high school seniors clocked a 7:02.13 to defeat Lake Stevens Rowing Club's Erik Farrar and Mark Jelsing by 5.49 seconds. Newport Aquatic Center' Blake Foster and Morgan Sabo bested Dallas Jesuit Prep by 0.5 seconds to win the bronze medal.
"(The race) was calm and relaxed, and I just focused on rowing the race," Gagnon said. "Lake Stevens jumped out at the start, but at 500 meters, we caught (them)."
In the junior women's double sculls, the Winchester Thurston School tandem of Cara Dermody and Emily Schofield also had the chance to repeat as champions. Last year, the duo narrowly defeated Lyme/Old Lyme. On Sunday, however, it was Saugatuck Rowing Club's Jacquelyn Burmeister and Loren Massimino's time to shine. Burmeister and Massimino clocked a 7:45.20 to defeat Dermody and Schofield by 7.55 seconds. Long Beach Junior Crew's Lauren Nowinski and Renae Mehan edged out University Liggett by less than one second for the bronze medal, clocking a 7:56.81.
"I had raced Steel City in the past and knew they really saved themselves for the second half of the race," Burmeister said. "We wanted to get out, get a good lead and then be able to watch their moves."
Malvern Preparatory School arrived in Cincinnati with an entirely different lineup than last year in the junior men's quadruple sculls but still repeated as champions. Malvern came home in a 6:27.80, defeating North Allegheny by 5.43 seconds. Steel City Rowing Club finished third, clocking a 6:38.28.
In the lightweight women's eight, Saratoga (N.Y.) High School ended the West Coast's six-year dominance of event by defeating Oakland Strokes, the defending champions, by a deck length. In the six years of the lightweight women's eight event, West Coast schools had won the gold medal all six times, but Saratoga was able to hold off Oakland and Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club to claim the victory. Saratoga stroked a 7:06.90 to the Oakland Strokes' 7:07.44. Cincinnati finished third in a 7:08.80.
Marin Rowing Association made a big push to take the lead at the 1,000-meter mark of the junior men's lightweight eight final and held off a late charge from Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center to win the title. Marin finished in a 6:13.50, with Mt. Baker 1.41 seconds behind. Everett Rowing Association stroked a 6:20.81 and held of Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club by 0.43 seconds to win the bronze medal.
In the junior women's four with coxswain, Brooks School Crew clocked a 7:29.60 to defeat Community Rowing by 4.35 seconds. Rochester Rowing Club of Minnesota edged out Holy Names Academy by 0.36 seconds to win the bronze medal.
Mt. Baker Rowing and Sailing Center won the final of the junior men's four with coxswain. Mt. Baker pulled away from the field over the last half of the race to finish in a 6:44.60, 4.57 seconds ahead of Capital Crew. Long Beach Junior Crew finished third in a 6:49.51.
For the first time in the history of the Youth Invitational, the lightweight men's and lightweight women's four with coxswain were contested. In the inaugural final of the lightweight men's event, Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club clocked a 6:59.20 to defeat Grosse Pointe North High School by 9.27 seconds. Upper Arlington High School finished third in a 7:09.86. In the lightweight women's race, Lakeside School Crew stroked a 7:50.29 to defeat San Diego Rowing Club by 3.45 seconds. Newport Aquatic Center finished third in a 7:54.63.
After finishing third last year, Episcopal School of Dallas' Alie Fishman won the junior women's single sculls. Fishman battled several scullers through the 1,000-meter mark before she began to pull away from the field. She stroked an 8:24.60 to Sagamore Rowing Association's Ashleigh Tate's 8:28.23. Lakeside School's Caitlin Parker finished third in an 8:29.31.
Like Fishman, Old Saybrook High School's Peter Van Vliet raced in the final last year, finishing fifth. This year, Van Vliet defeated Steel City Rowing Club's Dane Wetschler by 3.09 seconds, stroking a 7:40.80. Quad City's Otto Stegmaier, who won the gold medal in the junior men's double sculls earlier in the day, finished third to win the bronze medal. Stegmaier clocked a 7:45.91.
Austin Rowing Club Juniors defeated defending champions Conestoga High School by just under four seconds to claim the title in the junior women's quadruple sculls. Austin clocked a 7:17.76 to win its first Youth Invitational title in the event. Conestoga, which returned two rowers from last year's championship boat, finished in a 7:21.60. Quad City Rowing Association finished third in a 7:26.89.