The U.S. won silver medals in the men's four, lightweight women's quadruple sculls and women's eight on Sunday to highlight the final day of racing at the 2009 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
In the men's four, the crew of Mark Murphy (Madison, Wis.), James Long-Lerno (Seal Beach, Calif.), Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) and Michael Gennaro (Havertown, Pa.) brought home the silver medal on the back of an electrifying sprint. Sitting in fourth with less than 500 meters to go, the U.S. crew caught Germany and Canada at the line, taking second place behind New Zealand. While New Zealand grabbed the lead during the second quarter of the race, Canada and Germany battled it out for second with the U.S. lurking just behind. As the crews entered the final stretch, the American boat made its move, and as the crews crossed the finish line, the U.S. had edged out Germany by 0.42 seconds and Canada by 0.69 seconds. New Zealand won the race in a 5:54.49, with the U.S. finishing 1.31 seconds behind in a 5:55.80. Germany held on for the bronze medal, clocking a time of 5:56.22.
"Our goal was to medal. That's all we wanted to do. We came up with silver, so we're pretty happy," Guregian said. "We wanted to have a strong start, a strong base and really work on our sprint. The sprint worked really well, especially in the last 250 meters. It was really tight, and we were able to come up with a medal."
The women's eight of Ariel Frost (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Jessica Leidecker (Westerville, Ohio), Taylor Ritzel (Larkspur, Colo.), Olivia Coffey (Watkins Glen, N.Y.), Ashley Kroll (Edmonds, Wash.), Grace Luczak (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Mary Jeghers (Sacramento, Calif.), Adrienne Martelli (University Place, Wash.) and Erika Roddy (San Francisco, Calif.) also won a silver medal, clocking a 6:21.80 to finish 1.09 seconds behind Great Britain. The British boat took the lead in the first 500 meters and built a 2.68-second advantage on the American crew, which sat in third, at the midway point of the race. The U.S. boat tried to get back on terms with Great Britain over the final 1,000 meters but was unable to track them down. Great Britain crossed the line in a 6:20.71, while Poland took the bronze medal in a 6:23.16.
"We're a very competitive group of people, and we were striving for gold," Luczak said. "It really is a great field to be up against; it is the world championships. Seven of us are age-eligible next year, and we are really hungry (to get back). It's really amazing to represent your country."
In the lightweight women's quadruple sculls, Victoria Burke (Redding, Conn.), Katherine Robinson (Everett, Wash.), Summers Nelson (Kansas City, Mo.) and Devery Karz (Park City, Utah) held off Australia to win the silver medal. Germany got off the line in first place, with the U.S. boat sitting in second at the 500-meter mark. The Germans continued to hold about a one-second lead through the next 1,000 meters, with the U.S. building a 2.17-second advantage on Australia going into the final quarter of the race. At the finish line, Germany crossed in first place, clocking a 6:34.99. The U.S. finished in a 6:37.04, with Australia winning the bronze medal in a 6:37.74.
"We went into the race ready to go. We knew it was going to be really tight and that every crew, one through six, had a chance of medaling if they rowed at the top of their game," Burke said. "We went in ready to rumble - not necessarily scared, but on the right side of nervous as we like to call it. I think we were just ready to go."
"One of our biggest things was cleaning it up a little bit" said Burke of what the crew worked on following the heat. "We had a tendency to hit some water, especially with the chop, and we really wanted to make sure that wasn't going to be a problem and slow us down in the final. We tried to work on that and being a little more together on the front end, accelerating a little bit once we got our blades in the water."
In the final of the men's four with coxswain, Steve Matyas (Turnersville, N.J.), Michael Rossidis (Garden City, N.Y.), Drew Baustian (Davenport, Iowa), Christopher Frendl (Southborough, Mass.) and Evan Cassidy (Westbury, N.Y.) finished fifth. The U.S. was in third position 500 meters into the race. That's when New Zealand and Italy began to pull away from the field, leaving the remaining crews to battle it out for the bronze medal. Entering the final quarter of the race, Ukraine, Germany and the U.S. were still within one second of each other. However, Germany used a strong move over the final 500 meters to power past the Ukraine for the bronze. New Zealand captured gold in a 6:07.40, with Italy taking silver in a 6:09.59. Germany clocked a 6:11.93. The U.S. finished with a time of 6:15.76.
In the women's pair, Luczak and Jeghers, who also raced in the eight, finished fifth in the final. After getting off the line in fifth place, the duo held fourth position for the middle 1,000 meters. However, Luczak and Jeghers were unable to chase down the top three crews, dropping to fifth in the final 250 meters. Romania, which sat in fourth after 500 meters, walked away with the race, clocking a 7:16.74 to finish more than seven seconds ahead of Germany's 7:24.03. The Netherlands claimed the bronze medal in a 7:24.23. The U.S. finished with a time of 7:29.37.
The women's four of Sarah Gribler (Marysville, Wash.), Theresa Shields (Grosse Ile, Mich.), Laura Nicholson (Newton, Mass.) and Sarah Zelenka (Itasca, Ill.) finished sixth in the final. The crew got off the line in fourth position but was unable to make a push for a spot on the medal stand during the second half of the race. Sitting in fifth at the midway point, Belarus came from behind to win the gold medal in a 6:48.77. Italy finished second in a 6:49.90, followed by New Zealand in a 6:52.76. The U.S. crossed the finish line with a time of 6:57.21.
Other gold medalists included Germany in the lightweight women's single sculls, men's single sculls, lightweight men's double sculls, and lightweight men's four; Italy in the lightweight men's quadruple sculls and lightweight men's pair; Greece in the men's pair and lightweight women's double sculls; Czech Republic in the women's single sculls; Iran in the lightweight men's single sculls; Belarus in the women's double sculls; New Zealand in the men's double sculls; Ukraine in the women's quadruple sculls; Croatia in the men's quadruple sculls and Poland in the men's eight.
The U.S. also had four crews racing in placement finals on Sunday.
In the B final of the women's single sculls, Helen Tompkins (Friendswood, Texas) came in second behind Poland's Natalia Madaj for an eighth-place finish overall. Madaj got off the line in first place, but Tompkins took the lead in the second quarter of the race. The American continued to build on her advantage through the 1,500-meter mark, but Madaj was able to come back in the final 500 meters to earn the victory. Madaj finished with a time of 7:42.35, while Tompkins clocked a 7:43.42.
The lightweight men's quadruple sculls crew of Bob Duff (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Michael Nucci (Blue Bell, Pa.), Pete Orlando (Pelham, N.Y.) and Will Kelly (New Canaan, Conn.) finished third in the B final, placing ninth overall. The race was tight throughout, with less than two seconds separating the top five crews at the midway point. Over the final 1,000 meters, the United States, Denmark, Sweden and Spain battled it out for the top spot. Denmark won the race in a 6:00.76, with Sweden finishing 0.14 seconds behind. The U.S. clocked a 6:02.72, while Spain finished fourth in a 6:04.09.
In the B final of the lightweight men's four, Austin Meyer (Cohoes, N.Y.), Edward King (Ironton, Mo.), Julian Bowling (Shelby, N.C.) and Chad Healy (Ashland, Ore.) came in fourth for a 10th-place finish overall. The top four crews finished within 2.85 seconds of each other, with Italy winning in a 6:05.10. Denmark finished second, followed by Australia. The U.S. clocked a 6:07.95.
The lightweight women's double sculls duo of Madeline Davis (West Chester, Pa.) and Lindsay McAlpine (Berkeley, Calif.) finished sixth in the B final for a 12th-place finish overall. The crew fell to sixth in the second quarter of the race and finished with a time of 7:48.08. Switzerland won the race in a 7:18.93.