Vesper Boat Club's Jana Heere and Wendy Campanella earned a spot on the 2007 National Team by virtue of winning the lightweight women's double sculls on Sunday, highlighting the final day of racing at the second 2007 National Selection Regatta (NSR) at the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.
With the second NSR serving as a possible selection event for the women's pair, women's double sculls, and lightweight women's double sculls, Sunday's winners had the opportunity to be automatically selected to the 2007 National Team if they met the required time standard.
Heere and Campanella won the final of the lightweight women's double sculls with a time of 7:04.96. The duo grabbed a 1.26-second lead at the midway point of the race before pulling away from the second-place finishers, Princeton Training Center/Penn AC's Julie Nichols and Renee Hykel. Nichols and Hykel finished with a time of 7:08.08. The New York Athletic Club/Rose City Rowing Club tandem of Britton Nixon and Lisa Schlenker finished third in a 7:15.04. After meeting the time standard, Heere and Campanella accepted their berth on the national team and will now race at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in August.
The Princeton Training Center/Saugatuck Rowing Club duo of Ala Piotrowski and Jennifer Kaido won the final of the women's double sculls, clocking a 7:01.78 to finish nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place crew. Princeton Training Center/Pocock Rowing Center's Lia Pernell and Liane Malcos finished second in a 7:04.36, with Potomac Boat Club's Margot Shumway and Reilly Dampeer finishing third in a 7:09.59. Piotrowski and Kaido met the time standard and now have until July 17 to accept the women's double sculls berth on the 2007 National Team. If they choose not to accept that berth, the boat category will be opened up to all competitors at the 2007 World Championships Team Trials scheduled for July 30-August 3.
In the final of the women's pair, the Princeton Training Center/Pocock Rowing Center tandem of Anna Mickelson and Megan Cooke crossed the finish line with a time of 7:07.19 to finish 1.8 seconds ahead of Princeton Training Center/Vesper Boat Club's Caryn Davies and Caroline Lind. Mickelson and Cooke built more than a two-second lead in the first 1,000 meters and were able to control the race the rest of the way down the course. Davies and Lind finished with a time of 7:08.99, followed by Princeton Training Center's 7:12.18. Mickelson and Cooke met the time standard and now have until July 17 to accept the women's pair berth on the 2007 National Team or the event will be opened up to trials.
While the women's events served as selection races at this NSR, the remaining races served as an opportunity for crews to test their speed in preparation for upcoming selection events or to earn invitations to big boat selection camps.
In the closest race of the day, Caspersen Training Center's Patrick O'Dunne and Dan Beery won the final of the men's pair by 0.04 seconds. O'Dunne and Beery clocked a 6:35.15 to edge teammates Beau Hoopman and Matt Schnobrich, who clocked a 6:35.19. Caspersen Training Center's Dan Walsh and Steven Coppola finished third in a 6:35.60, followed by Caspersen Training Center's Josh Inman and Brett Newlin in a 6:35.71.
In the lightweight men's pair, Caspersen Training Center's Matt Muffelman and Pat Todd won the final with a time of 6:33.58. After being virtually even at the 1,000-meter mark, the duo pulled away in the final 1,000 meters to defeat teammates Andrew Bolton and Colin Farrell by nearly five seconds. Bolton and Farrell finished with a time of 6:38.38. Caspersen Training Center's Tom Paradiso and Simon Carcagno finished third in a 6:41.42.
Caspersen Training Center's Matt Hughes and Sam Stitt won the final of the men's double sculls. The duo used a strong first half of the race to establish more than a four-second lead at the 1,000-meter mark before going on to win by just over five seconds. Hughes and Stitt clocked a 6:19.95. Potomac Boat Club's Jamie Schroeder and Joshua Brown finished second in a 6:25.06, followed by Penn AC/Malta Boat Club's Andrew Liverman and Rich Montgomery in a 6:26.75.