Oak Hollow Lake – High Point Rowing Club celebrated the youth rowing program at the annual Spring Crew Banquet last night by honoring the rowers and in particular the high school seniors who will graduate in just weeks from now.
Following a delicious pot luck feast, the evening’s celebrations were kicked off by Grimsley HS students, Quinn Eury and Aliute Udoka, who sang an inspiring duet version of the National Anthem, which brought many students and parents to near tears by their beautiful performance.
Mary Horan, who is parent liaison to the team and a director of the non-profit board, then proceeded with introductory remarks by thanking parents of the rowers for their generous support of the team, in particular Susie Alt and Cathy Howard for hosting the food tables at all crew regattas.
The evening then took on a humorous twist with Bishop McGuinness sophomore Emma Lloyd entertaining the audience with rower awards based on fitting superlatives. These awards have now become a popular annual tradition with the crew.
Next up chief coach Gene Kininmonth presented The York Cup to the crew that recorded the fastest time from Skeet Club bridge to Johnson Street bridge during the previous twelve months. Following this Coach Kininmonth thanked the team’s captains, Sarah Catto, Katie Ognovich, and Andrew Wright for their service to the team and then announced the new Captains for 2014, Addie Millsap, Kim Pollard, Adam Alt, and Colin Howard. Coach then presented awards to rowers for ‘Most Improved’, ‘Rookie of the Year’, and ‘Rower of the Year’.
The most important part of the ceremonies then arrived as seniors Catherine Thompson, Sarah Catto, and Katie Ognovich were honored and thanked for their service to the crew. Emotions ran high as the three seniors each made stirring speeches, each reflecting on their own personal experiences of High Point Rowing Club.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee – High Point Rowing Club’s sweep squad continued its ascent in the high school regional ranks at the Dogwood Regatta on Melton Lake on Saturday. The squad narrowed the gap significantly with regional rivals Atlanta and Asheville from its previous outing at the Clemson Sprints two weeks ago in South Carolina.
The Dogwood Regatta concluded the team’s regular spring racing season with select crews continuing on to the USRowing Southeast Regional Championships in Sarasota, Florida in two weeks.
With the Dogwood Regatta drawing over 500 crews in different boat classes from as far away as Chicago and Detroit, there was a depth of high school talent on display not seen before at the event.
On the women’s side High Point entered sweep crews in the Division I & II novice eights and also the Division I & II varsity eights. On the men’s side, High Point entered crews in the Division I novice eights and fours events.
WOMEN’S RACING
High Point opened sweep racing in the Divion II women’s novice eights event and finished second in the Final. The crew, comprised of coxswain Kiki Davis, stroke Quinn Eury, Atlanta Maggie, Hayden Davis, Anna Kareis, Paige Steele, Hadley Copeland, Kaylie Mills, and bow Margaux Blanchard held a steady rhythm throughout the race to finish just behind Cincinnati.
Women’s Division II Novice Eights
1. Cincinnati 2. High Point
3. St. Andrew High School
4. St. Louis
5. Chicago
6. McCallie High School
In the Division I Women’s Novice Eights Final, High Point was represented by coxswain Katharine Komsa, stroke Bethany Brake, Maddie Mullins, Victoria Goldin, Aliute Udoka, Abbey Lowdermilk, Addy Millsap, Jr Ognovich, and bow Kim Pollard. The crew featured significant lineup changes from the Clemson Sprints Regatta and finished with the 8th fastest time out of 17 crews entered. Most significantly in Oak Ridge, the crew narrowed the gap on Asheville by 10 seconds since their earlier race in Clemson.
With High Point Rowing still little more than 18 months old, the women’s varsity eight continues to improve in just its first spring season of varsity competition. The crew finished fourth in its heat behind St. Louis, Rocket City, and Detroit and posted the 8th fastest time out of 15 teams in the preliminary round.
High Point co-captain Sarah Catto said her crew had a strong race and should be proud of its accomplishments. “This is a big time regatta and to be in the middle of the pack in just our first season of competition is gratifying.”
For Catto, a senior at Westchester Country Day School, the moment was bittersweet as this was her last scholastic race with High Point.
MEN’S RACING
On the boys side High Point Rowing foursome of bow Nick Heflin, Crosby Howard, Colin Howard, Lewis Crotts and coxswain Emma Lloyd experienced some misadventure when they hit an unexpected boat wake during their race. One of the rowers came off the seat during the turbulent moment and the crew finished in 6th place.
Things quickly picked up however for the boys squad with the novice eight crew putting on an exhibition display of rowing in their Final. “Our goal was to beat Asheville after we lost to them at the Clemson Sprints two weeks ago,” said Andrew Wright, who is captain of the boys squad.
High Point finished in an outstanding third place behind Cincinnati and Atlanta. “We beat Asheville’s time by 10 seconds and were only 9 seconds behind Atlanta after finishing 23 seconds back from them in Clemson,” said Wright. “This was a successful weekend of racing for our squad.”
Added High Point head coach Gene Kininmonth: “Atlanta and Asheville are the premier scholastic sweep programs in our region and these are the teams we most want to emulate. Asheville coaches Jack Gartner and Martha Williams have paved the way for youth rowing in North Carolina since they founded their youth program little more than half a dozen years ago. So, anytime we have a boat that can compete with them I am certainly delighted.”
High Point, NC – Greg and Caren York have made a generous gift to High Point Rowing Club, the team’s founder Gene Kininmonth has announced. Greg and Caren are parents of Charles York, a sophomore student on the men’s varsity crew.
“I am extremely grateful to the York Family for the trust they have placed in this very new rowing program by making this leadership gift,” said Kininmonth. “The city of High Point is extremely fortunate to have Greg and Caren York and their family as residents.”
Thanks to the York family’s philanthropic leadership, High Point Rowing Club received over $20,000 in gifts from parents of the youth team in April. The funds will be used to add a much needed shell to the fleet.
Leadership Gift
Greg and Caren York – Charles’ parents
$5,000 & greater
Mike and Siobhan Mills – Cara’s parents
$1,000 & greater
Silvanus and Lisa Udoka – Aliute’s parents
Barbara and Russell Pollard – Kim’s parents
Mary Horan – Katie and Jackie’s mum.
Charles and Susie Alt – Adam’s folks
$500 & greater
Robert and Tammy Simmons – Abbey’s parents
Sara Copeland – Hadley’s Mum
Pete and Dana Koval – Kyle’s parents
Derek and Patricia Goldin – Victoria’s parents
$250 & greater
Christine and Mark Wright – Andrew’s parents
Allison Blanchard – Margaux’s Mum
James and Marianne Bennett – James’ parents
Joyce and Steve Eury – Quinn’s parents
$100 & greater
Brett and Sonya Millsap – Addy’s parents
Marlienne Goldin
Jonathon and Alisa Brake – Bethany’s parents
Robert and Cindy Komsa – Katharine’s parents
David Thompson and Janis Antonek – Catherine’s parents
Gary and Galye Coxford
THANK YOU HPRC PARENTS!
To honor Greg and Caren York’s generosity to the Crew, Coach Kininmonth commissioned “The York Cup” to be presented annually to the crew achieving the fastest Bridge to Bridge time over the course of a season on Oak Hollow Lake.
Clemson, South Carolina – High Point Rowing Club produced a strong showing at the Clemson Sprints Regatta on Saturday by earning numerous finals appearances in the premier eights events.
The Clemson Sprints is one of the strongest regional spring competitions, drawing college and youth rowing teams from Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia and the Carolinas.
High Point qualified for the finals in all three of the premier high school eights events, earning bronze in the men’s junior novice eights, and fourth place finishes in both the women’s junior novice and high school varsity eights championships. Novice events are for rowers in their first year of racing. After one year of racing high school rowers must race in varsity events.
High Point also earned a bronze medal finish in the women’s lightweight fours championship.
Head coach Gene Kininmonth said he was impressed with the results of the team in Clemson and pointed out that High Point has clearly grown from strength to strength in the past 12 months.
“We saw much stronger competition this week and two take-aways stood out from this event,” said Kininmonth. “Firstly, we have phenomenal athletes on our program – no question. To be finishing top three or four in our events with all the high school programs from so many states here is such a credit to our rowers. The second take away is that if we are going to catch the two or three programs ahead of us we must have an indoor training facility in place for next winter. The elite programs ahead of us this week such as Asheville and Atlanta can either row all though the winter on lakes heated by nuclear power plant cooling systems or they have indoor rowing facilities. We can beat these teams but we clearly need more than three weeks of rowing to do so.”
High Point, making its debut in the high school women’s Division 1 varsity ranks, shocked Triangle Rowing Club of Raleigh to win the prestigious women’s varsity eights title at the 2014 High Point Regatta on Saturday.
The crew of coxswain Cara Mills, stroke Catherine Thompson, Katie Ognovich, Olivia Mangus, Sarah Catto, Aisinn Antrim, Morgan Sheehan, Emma Lloyd, and bow Bethany Brake led from the outset on the Oak Hollow Lake rowing course to clock a new record time of 5 minutes 1 second for the 1,500m race.
High Point demonstrated its strength in the sport by picking up five of the seven titles in the sudden death duel boat series with Triangle. High Point also won the women’s first and second division novice eights, and the men’s novice eights and fours events.
Entering the regatta as the underdog, High Point quickly saw the momentum shift to its favor once racing started in the Women’s Varsity Eights event and the hometown crew powered to more than a boat length lead over its Raleigh rival. What started out as a Cinderella story soon became a dominant triumph in the closing stages as High Point pushed out to a comfortable win.
“This was High Point’s first attempt in the Division I ranks and to earn a victory against this Raleigh program was a big time win for our program,” said High Point head coach Gene Kininmonth. “The crew found great rhythm out on the water today and truly stepped up.”
Regatta Secretary Mary Horan said the team is very grateful to Triangle for coming to High Point to race this weekend. “We are also very thankful to all of the volunteer supporters including parents and coaches, who brought such enthusiasm to making this event such a special one for all the rowers from both teams.”
Next week the High Point Crew heads to South Carolina for the Clemson Sprints, a regional regatta featuring top high school and collegiate crews from five different states.
High Point Rowing Club will host a new entry level rowing program designed specifically for middle school students at Oak Hollow Lake.
The clinic will take place from late March through to Memorial Day weekend. The introductory Learn to Row class will take place on March 22 at 1pm.
Sessions will take place on Tuesday and Thursday 4:30pm to 6:15pm and on Saturday morning at 9am. See the directions link for location.
Students should wear normal athletic attire suitable for the weather and flip flops rather than running shoes as participants will walk the boat into the water.
Students in Year 7 or 8 attending any Triad area high school are eligible to join the program. Students must be confident swimmers as a safety precaution. Space is extremely limited and places will be accepted and guaranteed only upon full payment and completion of the signed waiver and swim form. The fee for this clinic is $325. See the Register link for details.
For questions, email contact@highpointrowing.com or call program director Gene Kininmonth at (336) 257-9009.
High Point Rowing Club swept the women’s events in dominant fashion at the Charlotte Erg Sprints on Saturday with championship victories in the women’s varsity, varsity lightweight and novice indoor rowing events.
Indoor rowing competitions take place on rowing machines, called ergometers, and the Charlotte Erg Sprints, hosted by the Charlotte Youth Rowing program, is now the most popular competition of its kind in North Carolina.
In the Women’s Novice (1st year high school rower) event, High Point’s Aliute Udoka won the championship in a time of 7 minutes 56 seconds.
“Novice rowers are so new to the sport you really never know what to expect,” said head coach Gene Kininmonth. “Aliute’s performance was more on par with a very experienced high school varsity rower and yet she is still a sophomore. There is no question that Aliute has a wonderful career ahead of her in rowing.”
The next win for High Point came in the Women’s Varsity Lightweight event when Kim Pollard led from wire to wire to row to victory in 8 minutes 35 seconds.
“It felt amazing to win!” said an exhausted Pollard after the race. “I felt like all of my winter training had paid off and made a huge difference in my performance on the erg. In addition to the erg, I’ve mainly been doing crossfit workouts to incorporate into functional fitness.”
A junior at Northwest Guilford High School, Pollard says she is now looking forward to the spring boat racing season and winning medals with her High Point crew mates.
In the final event of the day, High Point’s Catherine Thompson put on the most dominating exhibition of rowing seen at the competition when she won the Women’s Varsity Championship in a time of 7 minutes 32 seconds, besting her previous personal best erg time by 11 seconds.
“Catherine Thompson is truly one of the founders of High Point Rowing Club and she will leave a legacy of inspiration with this team when she goes to row for the Wisconsin Badgers in the Fall.” says head coach Gene Kininmonth. “Catherine was a member of our very first crew. Her first stroke propelled our team into existence and her first boat race victory was this team’s historic first victory. Now, here she is today, continuing to be such a positive force for her team and performing at a level she can be so proud of.”
A senior at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, Thompson represented her high school in volleyball and Track & Field before making the switch to rowing. On Saturday in Charlotte she led the field right from the outset, setting a blistering pace that none of her competitors could follow.
In the men’s competition in Charlotte, High Point Rowing Club was represented in the Men’s Novice event by Josh Dasnoit and Adam Alt, with Alt finishing in third place with a personal best time of 7 minutes 29 seconds.
High Point Rowing Club celebrated its first birthday this weekend with a morning row followed by a potluck brunch for rowers, families and friends at Oak Hollow Lake.
In contrast to a year ago when eight high school students launched the team’s first boat, today’s team boasts almost 40 athletes from public and private high schools across the Triad.
The poignancy of the occasion was captured in a stirring speech to the Crew by team co-captain Sarah Catto, a senior at Westchester Country Day School. “I was not here a year ago for the first row, but neither were most of us,” said Catto. “That is part of what makes this first year of the team such a remarkable story. Everyone here has had their own experience from their first day to today and for all of us here it has been a new love of this sport from the very first stroke.”
“We ask ourselves “WHY THE HECK DO WE DO THIS?”
“You are with a group of your best friends who are all in the same boat…literally…striving for the same goal of doing your best and succeeding! I mean I don’t think there is a better feeling of knowing that every single person you’re in the boat with is working towards the same goal! And I wish there was a better way to describe the feeling you get from crew. But there are really no words to describe the amazing bond between crew members. The definition of a team sport is crew because there are definitely no other sports out there where you literally are relying on everyone in the boat, and need every single person there to reach that goal. I know every single one of us have never felt more blessed to be able to not only find the sport of rowing but to have found each other on our home here on Oak Hollow Lake. High Point crew all the way!”
Team founder Gene Kininmonth says there is an extraordinary community building around the club. “This first year we have laid a cornerstone. There is no question that the sport of rowing is now here to stay in High Point. We are fortunate to have an incredible partner in the City of High Point’s Parks & Recreation department, which provides us with access to one of the most beautiful lakes in North Carolina in Oak Hollow Lake.”
Boys and girls attending any Triad area school (Yrs 9-12) are eligible to join the team. No experience necessary. Email contact@highpointrowing.com or see the Registration page for details.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, – High Point Rowing Club completed its spring racing season with a Finals appearance at the USRowing Southeast Regional Rowing championships on Sunday.
Three crews of high school students represented High Point in Tennessee over the weekend with the crew of cox Bethany Brake, stroke Emma Lloyd, Katie Ognovich and Liz Haenel winning its heat at the championships and then qualifying through the sem-final round to race in the final on Sunday afternoon.
High Point’s crew of cox Katharine Komsa, stroke Aislinn Antrim, Anna Kareis, Olivia Mangus and Sarah Catto also raced in the fours event but were knocked out in the first round in a competitive field of teams from across the southeastern United States.
RESULTS – Women’s Junior Novice Four:
Round One Heats
1 High Point Rowing Club A 8:23.79
2 Charlotte Youth 8:27.77
3 Coconut Grove RC 8:29.59
4 Westminster 9:05.60 5 High Point Rowing Club B 9:26.05
6 Augusta Junior 10:12.63
Semi Final:
Place Name Time
1 Sarasota Crew 8:14.75 2 High Point Rowing Club 8:24.52
3 Miami Rowing 8:27.84
4 Revolution Junior Rowing 8:30.09
5 St. Andrew 8:32.11
6 Westminster 9:10.50
Final
Place Name Time
1 Sarasota Crew 8:21.08
2 SORA 8:24.86
3 Coconut Grove RC 8:26.73
4 Charlotte Youth 8:27.03 5 High Point Rowing Club 8:40.77
6 Miami Rowing 9:01.86
In other racing action, High Point also entered the women’s junior novice eights event in Oak Ridge. Despite covering the 2000m championship course with a time faster than 5 of the crews of the 17 entered, High Point’s crew of cox Emma Lloyd, stroke Maria Donadio, Bethany Brake, Cara Mills, Sara Catto, Quinn Eury, Katharine Komsa, Jessica Critchley and bow Zoe Kelley did not qualify for the semi final round.
Head Coach Gene Kininmonth said he was pleased with the efforts of the team at the Championships. “This is a highly competitive regional championship and for a first-year rowing program to come in and even make a dent in the results is incredible. I hope every rower on this team is really proud of how much progress they have made in such a short time.”
High Point Rowing Club is a youth rowing program open to all male and female students attending high schools in the Triad. For more information email Gene Kininmonth contact@highpointrowing.com or call (336) 257-9009.
Learn to Row classes scheduled for January have been cancelled due to extremely cold weather forecasts with significant snowfall expected overnight and freezing conditions to remain through much of the weekend.
“The weather forecast makes for more than just unpleasant rowing conditions,” says program director Gene Kininmonth. “It would be simply unsafe to row in and the risks increase as water temperatures at the lake drop below 50F.”
An announcement will be made on this site and the team’s Facebook page when a date is determined for the Learn to Row classes to be held.
Nine young women made history in High Point today by launching the first Crew for the High Point Rowing Club, the Triad’s first community Rowing team.
The all women crew launched from North Ramp at Oak Hollow Lake on Saturday morning in glorious sunny Fall conditions. A light breeze blowing across the lake proved no challenge for this new team of oarswomen, who sculled their 60 foot long shell effortlessly across the water with grace.
The High Point Rowing Club is now looking forward to recruiting its first crew of male high school students in addition to another 15 female students.
Interested students should email contact@highpointrowing.com for details on how to join the Crew.
High School & Middle School students entering Year 9 and above and their parents are invited to attend an information meeting about rowing at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 30 at Oak Hollow Lake.
At this meeting students and parents will hear about how to join the High Point Rowing Club, the benefits of rowing experience in high school, and what they can expect from being a member of the team. Students from any high school, public or private, in the High Point area are welcome to join the team.
No prior rowing experience is required and most participants will not have past experience. Please note that the first three rowing sessions are free with no obligation to join the team.
“We welcome both male and female students of all athletic backgrounds interested in being a part of a really fun team environment,” said program director Gene Kininmonth. “You do not have to currently be in shape to join the team…we will help you get in great shape while having a wonderful time with great people.”
The High Point Enterprise published a wonderful article on the efforts to bring rowing to High Point.
We are very grateful to the Enterprise and journalist Jimmy Tomlin and photographer Sonny Hedgecock for their contributions to this story called Use Your Scull.