Gainesville, GA – High Point Rowing Club’s womens youth eight crew celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday with a historic fourth place finish at USRowing’s Southeast Regional Youth Championships held at the Lake Lanier Olympic course.
Eight teams contended for the prestigious Womens Youth Eights championship and the field was initially split into two heats of four crews. The first three crews in each heat on Saturday would proceed through to Sunday’s championship final.
Despite entering the regional event seeded 7th out of 8 entries, High Point was always regarded as a possible dark horse to upset the field, having earned an early season victory over the number four seed Asheville at the Clemson Sprints in April. And High Point did not disappoint, confounding the pundits by advancing to the final with a stunning burst of speed over the Olympic course to set a new club record time of 6 minutes 49 seconds.
High Point stroke Victoria Goldin set up a perfect rhythm while her coxswain, Bethany Brake, inspired the crew to keep going for more as the procession of boats raced down Lake Lanier, the site of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Heat 2 Womens Youth Eights
1. Atlanta 6 minutes 39 seconds
2. OARS 6:40
3. High Point 6:49
4. Capital City 7:08
Varsity Coach Allie Davis said her crew enjoyed a solid preparation going into the regional championships. “The girls held their focus after racing at the Dogwood Regatta in Oak Ridge two weeks ago. We enjoyed a terrific two week campaign of training in the post season and every member of this boat was confident that the best was yet to come this weekend.”
In the final, High Point hung with the early leaders and quickly established the upper hand over their in-state rivals from Asheville.
Womens Youth Eight Final
1. Sarasota 6 minutes 52 seconds
2. OARS 6:55
3. Atlanta 6:59
4. High Point 7:09
5. Asheville 7:12
6. St. Andrews HS 7:20
After the historic finish, High Point rower Emma Lloyd said she could not have asked for a better weekend with a better team or a better Mom. “The things we accomplished this season went way beyond my expectations and I have never been so happy and proud to be a part of such a fantastic group of ladies.”
Earlier in the weekend, High Point’s crew of Margaux Blanchard, Andrew Wright, Adam Alt, Kyle Koval, and Austin Young raced in the Men’s Youth Fours event. This spring marked the first season of varsity racing for High Point’s boys squad and the team’s first trip to the Southeast Regional Championships. The Youth Four was selected from the varsity eight crew that had won at the High Point Regatta in March but struggled to remain competitive later in the season. Sixteen crews were entered in the Youth Four event and in the first round of heats High Point finished second to Nashville, with the first four of the six crews proceeding to the semi final round.
Mens Youth Four
Heat 3
1. Nashville 7 minutes 1 second
2. High Point 7:06
3. Boone High School 7:12
4. ROCCS 7:18
5. Riverside Military Academy 7:26
6. Charlotte 8:20
In the semifinals, three crews from each of two semi final races would proceed to Sunday’s final. High Point struggled to hang with the field in the middle stages of the 2,000 meter race but regained rhythm with 300 meters to go. Despite a late surge the crew just missed catching Boone High School for the third qualifying spot.
Mens Youth Four
Semifinal 1
1. Miami Rowing 6 minutes 58 secs
2. Stanton River Bank Rowing 7:11
3. Boone High School 7:15
4. High Point 7:17
5. Evans RC 7:20
6. Atomic Rowing 7:32
Coach Gene Kininmonth said he was pleased with the efforts of the crew. “It is tough to be on the bubble and miss the final by a couple of seconds but this crew has made tremendous progress these past two weeks to find the boat speed they did. Racing this weekend has exposed the boys squad to a higher standard of rowing they will be aspiring to reach next year and I see a bright future ahead for the team”
