RACICE, Czech Republic - Five U.S. crews advanced Friday, despite heavy rain throughout the second day of racing at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships. The women's four, women's quadruple sculls and women's eight are set to race for medals Saturday. In total, seven U.S. boats are headed to either the semifinals or finals with the conclusion of Friday's races.
Setting the tone in the first race of the morning, the U.S. women's four won its repechage, or second-chance race, by 9.4 seconds to secure a spot in the final. The crew of Chandler Lally (Bryn Mawr, Pa.), Jessica Eiffert (Honeoye Falls, N.J.), Agatha Nowinski (Sacramento, Calif.) and Lucy Grinalds (Southport, Conn.) was first off the line and held the lead, recording the fastest split at each of the 500-meter marks. The U.S. crew, with two returning members of last year's junior team in Lally and Grinalds, posted a 7:07.66 for the win. Ukraine finished second in a 7:16.25 and will also race in tomorrow's final, along with Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Spain.
Hannah Solis-Cohen (Northfield, Mass.), Margaret Bertasi (London, England), Alexandria Chrumka (Grosse Point, Mich.) and Sophie Heywood (Tempe, Ariz.) will race for medals in the women's quadruple sculls. After yesterday's third-place finish in its heat, the U.S. crew finished a solid second in its repechage on Friday to advance. Ukraine led from wire-to-wire to win in a 6:54.04, with the U.S. second in a 6:57.47. Tomorrow's final brings the Ukraine and U.S. crews together once again, along with Russia, Romania, Belarus and Germany.
After yesterday's impressive 4.3-second heat win, Andrew Campbell, Jr. (New Canaan, Conn.) finished second in his quarterfinal for a place in the semifinals. Campbell was in third place off the start, but moved into second position behind Greece's Dionysios Angelopoulos by the halfway point. The U.S. sculler held on to finish in a 7:22.38, with Angelopoulos crossing first in a 7:17.73. Campbell, a member of the 2009 World Rowing Under 23 Championships squad, will face defending junior world champion Felix Bach of Germany in tomorrow's semifinal, as well as scullers from Ireland, Czech Republic, Estonia and Croatia.
The men's eight crew of coxswain Louis Lombardi (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Zachary Johnson (Marin, Calif.), Zachary Hershberger (Los Gatos, Calif.), Austin Hack (Old Lyme, Conn.), Paul Popescu (Princeton, N.J.), Connor Jones (Wilmette, Ill.), Whitney Blodgett (Stanfordville, N.Y.), Patrick McGlone (Newton Square, Pa.) and Justin Jones (Bellmawr, N.J.) finished second in its repechage to secure a spot in Sunday's final. The U.S. crew was in fifth place off the start, but was able to move through New Zealand and into fourth by the halfway point. With a strong push in the final stretch, Romania held on to cross first in a 5:44.92, with the U.S. second in a 5:48.08.
In the women's single sculls, Alycia Daloia-Moore (Bronx, N.Y.) finished second in her repechage to advance to the semifinals. After falling just short of qualifying position in yesterday's heat, Daloia-Moore overtook Poland's Joanna Dorociak in the sprint Friday, crossing the line in an 8:17.99. Lithuania's Milda Valciukaite won the race in an 8:13.85. The U.S. sculler will take on Azerbaijan, Romania, Hungary, Latvia and Norway in Saturday's second semifinal.
Susan Greenberg (Westport, Conn.) and Alexandra Zadravec (Fairfield, Conn.) finished third in the second repechage of the women's double sculls. Despite a burst of momentum in the last 200 meters, the U.S. duo missed qualifying by just 0.6 seconds. Belarus won the race in a 7:37.10, with Korea in second with a time of 7:38.32. Greenberg and Zadravec posted a 7:38.92, and will now race Pakistan, Croatia and Estonia for a spot in the C final.
The U.S. men's quadruple sculls crew also missed qualifying by less than a second, finishing third in its repechage. Graham Anderson (Weston, Conn.), Patrick Donohue (Malvern, Pa.), Max Meyer-Bosse (Westport, Conn.) and Alex Johnson (Seattle, Wash.) made a push just before the 1,000-meter mark to move into second place, but slipped back into third in the last quarter of the race, crossing the line in a 6:11.71. Australia won in a 6:10.05, with Ukraine second in a 6:11.01. The U.S. will now race Serbia, France, Slovenia, Denmark and Peru in tomorrow's C/D semifinal.
In the women's pair, Elizabeth Youngling (Westport, Conn.) and Hemmingway Benton (Glencoe, Ill.) finished fourth in the repechage. The U.S. crew was in fifth place off the line and moved into fourth by the 1,500-meter mark, crossing the line in an 8:04.07. Bulgaria won the race in a 7:52.04. Youngling and Benton will now race in Saturday's B final for places 7-9.
Thacher Dodge (South Salem, N.Y.), Parker Lange (Darien, Conn.), Thomas Stolarski (Weston, Conn.) and Charles Campbell (Darien, Conn.) also finished fifth in the repechage of the men's four. Spain won the race in a 6:36.02. The U.S. crew crossed in a 7:09.89 and will now race for places 7-12 in tomorrow's B final.
The men's double sculls duo of Nader Al-Naji (Fairfax, Va.) and Robert Rasmussen (Washington D.C.) finished sixth in the third quarterfinal, and will now race in the C/D semifinals. The U.S crew finished fifth in its heat and second in its afternoon repechage en route to the quarterfinal. In today's race, France pulled out early, gaining more than three seconds on the field in the first 500 meters and eventually winning in a 6:49.51. The U.S. posted a time of 7:20.35 and will now take on Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic and Estonia on Saturday.
Michael Evans (Portland, Ore.) and Wilson Valle (Miami, Fla.) finished sixth in the repechage of the men's pair. The U.S. crew was in sixth place the entire length of the course, crossing the line in a 7:17.87. South Africa won the race in a 6:57.11. Evans and Valle will now race in the C final for places 13-18.
The U.S. women's eight and men's four with coxswain are back in action Saturday after winning their respective heats on Thursday. Coxswain Christine Devlin (Harvard, Mass.), Rosemary Grinalds (Southport, Conn.), Louise Breen (Northampton, N.H.), Madison Lips (Parker, Colo.), Christina Bax (Bethesda, Md.), Marianne Hoeft (New Canaan, Conn.), Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska), Faith Richardson (Wellesley, Mass.) and Carli Goldberg (Sarasota, Fla.) will look to win a third-consecutive women's eight world title. Coming off of a convincing win in its preliminary race, the U.S. crew will take on Czech Republic, Romania, Great Britain, Germany and Russia in the last event of the day.
After its day of rest, the U.S. men's four with coxswain crew of Patrick O'Hara (Wilmette, Ill.), John McGrorty (Ambler, Pa.), Jacob Merrell (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Patrick Eble (Fort Washington, Pa.) and Michael Cox (Centerville, Va.) is scheduled to race Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Ukraine and Serbia in Saturday's first semifinal.