Saugatuck Rowing Club dominated the team competition at the 2009 USRowing Masters National Championships, winning the overall, women's and men's points' trophies at the Cooper River in Camden, N.J.
The Westport, Conn.-based club won the overall team title with 831.50 points. Minneapolis Rowing Club finished second with 399.75 points, followed by Potomac Boat Club with 330.25 points. Saugatuck won the women's title with 371 points. Community Rowing, Inc. finished second with 211.75 points, followed by Minneapolis Rowing Club with 153.50 points. The men's point trophy went to Saugatuck with 382.25 points. Minneapolis finished second with 235.25 points, with Occoquan International taking third with 228.75 points.
In total, Saugatuck won 23 national titles over the four-day regatta including the mixed C eight, men's club C quadruple sculls, men's C four, women's club D quadruple sculls and men's club G quadruple sculls on Sunday.
More than 60 national titles were awarded on the final day of competition. In the closest finish of the day, Lincoln Park Boat Club's Margarita Zezza edged out Cambridge Boat Club's Ellen Kennelly by 0.03 seconds to win the gold medal in the women's open B single sculls. Zezza finished with a time of 3:59.84, while Kennelly clocked a 3:59.87.
Less than one second separated New Haven Rowing Club's Steve Gurney and Fairport Crew Club's Richard Kendall in the men's lightweight I-J single sculls final. The 76-year-old Gurney crossed the finish line in a 4:18.73, 0.88 seconds ahead of the 79-year-old Kendall. Forty-five minutes later, Kendall turned the tables on Gurney in the men's lightweight G double sculls. Kendall and partner Don McSween clocked a 3:42.00 to win the gold medal, finishing 5.08 seconds ahead of Gurney and partner John Saxelby.
In the men's F double sculls, Narragansett Boat Club's Carlo Zezza and Andrew Washburn finished 0.57 seconds ahead of Cincinnati Rowing Club's Bob Miller and Tom Dryer. Zezza and Washburn clocked a 3:25.73, with Miller and Dryer finishing second in a 3:26.30.
Baltimore Rowing Club won the women's club B four with coxswain by less than a half-second over Annapolis Rowing Club. The crew of coxswain Sophie Lin, Laurie Pipitone, Beth Lawrence, Sandra Burt and Elizabeth Turtle took home the gold medal with a time of 3:45.34, with Annapolis' Lee Roman, Liz Clarke, Tara Neider, Jennifer Lowe and Amy Luken finishing in a 3:45.82.
Co-hosted by USRowing, Rutgers Alumni Crew at Camden, Cooper River Rowing Association and the Camden County Parks, the regatta featured more than 1,800 entries from 147 clubs competing for national titles in more than 200 events. The regatta was the largest masters national championships in history. Results are available online at www.racetrak.com.