WEST WINDSOR, N.J. - Racing at the 2010 National Selection Regatta #3 was completed this morning with the top finishing crews in all five events earning invitations to the U.S. National Team Selection Camps.
The athletes in the winning crews have an opportunity to be selected to row in the "big boats" (men's eight, women's eight, women's quadruple sculls, men's quadruple sculls, men's four and lightweight men's four) at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand.
In the first event of the day, the men's double sculls, a very tight finish saw USRowing Training Center's Will Miller (Duxbury, Mass.) and Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.) win in 6:32.367, edging USRowing Training Center teammates Elliot Hovey (Manchester-By-The-Sea, Mass.) and Wes Piermarini (West Brookfield, Mass.), who finished in 6:33.192.
"It was a tough race," said Gault, who finished fifth in the quadruple sculls at the 2008 Olympic Games. "We had to really dig to keep our lead. We raced internally for the first 500 meters to establish a rhythm and make the other guys stay with us."
In third with a time of 6:33.316 was the New York Athletic Club/Penn A.C. Rowing Association duo of Stephen Whelpley (Moquon, Wis.) and Jamie Koven (Green Village, N.J.). Craftsbury Sculling Center teammates Tom Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Peter Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished fourth in 6:33.316.
Winning the women's double sculls race was USRowing Training Center's duo of Sarah Trowbridge (Guilford, Conn.) and Jessica Reel (Atlanta, Ga.), who crossed the line in 7:07.636. USRowing Training Center's Kate Bertko (Oakland, Calif.) and Stesha Carle (Long Beach, Calif.) finished second with a time of 7:09.241.
Carle and Bertko won bronze in the 2010 Rowing World Cup stop in Munich and will represent the U.S. at the upcoming World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.
In third place was USRowing Training Center teammates Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) and Margot Shumway (Westlake, Ohio), who clocked a 7:11.895 followed in fourth with a time of 7:13.925 by Riverside Boat Club's Natalie Dell (Somerville, Mass.) and Union Boat Club's Mae Joyce Gay (Greenville, S.C.).
In the women's pair, USRowing Training Center crews took all four top spots with the crew of Meghan Musnicki (Naples, N.Y.) and Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.) crossing first in 7:18.321, followed by the pair of Jamie Redman (Spokane, Wash.) and Mara Allen (San Francisco, Calif.) with a time of 7:20.471.
Finishing third in 7:20.698 were teammates Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.) and Amanda Polk (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and in fourth the duo of Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine) and Ali Cox (Tulock, Calif.) crossed with a time of 7:26.042.
USRowing Training Center crews again took the top four spots in the men's pair with the crew of Brett Newlin, (Riverton, Wyo.) and Jake Cornelius (Brooktondale, N.Y.) crossing first in 6:36.627, followed in second with a time of 6:39.244 by Silas Stafford (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and Sam Stitt (McLean, Va.). In third with a time of 6:39.244 was the crew of Tom Peszek (Delaware, Ohio) and Justin Stangel (Madison, Wis.) followed in fourth by Dan Walsh (Norwalk, Conn.) and Charlie Cole (New Canaan, Conn.) in 6:42.434.
In the lightweight men's pair, USRowing Training Center boats continued to dominate the field. The team of Nick LaCava (Weston, Conn.) and Anthony Fahden (Lafayette, Calif.) took first in 6:45.300, followed by Kenny McMahon (Ladysmith, Wis.) and Ryan Fox (Edgerton, Wis.) in 6:47.279. In third was Will Daly (Vail, Colo.) and Jimmy Sopko (Mathews, Va.) in 6:49.059.
In the B finals, USRowing Training Center's Martin Etem (Long Beach, Calif) and Pat Close won the men's double sculls in 6:39.605 and USRowing Training Center's Nareg Guregian (North Hills, Calif.) and David Banks (Potomac, Md.) won the men's pair event in 6:49.083.