by Peggy Musselwhite
Bainbridge High School rowers faced off against top athletes representing 33 other clubs and schools last weekend at the Brentwood Regatta in picturesque Mill Bay near Victoria on Vancouver Island. Nearly 1,700 Canadian and American competitors raced the 1500 meter course during the three-day event in unusually favorable weather conditions. More than 90 Bainbridge Island Rowing junior rowers and coxswains competed in 32 qualifying heats and final races, taking home seven medals, including two gold, four silver, and one bronze.
Varsity Boys
Varsity Boys 8: Coxswain Keith Carlson, Cole Sander, Lars Erickson, Dan Queen, John Danielsson, Konnor Vander Leest, Will de Rubertis, Scott Musselwhite, Alex Larsen.
The Varsity Boys had a solid weekend of racing, exhibiting their usual grit and focus against a tough field of international competitors. A strong Varsity Boys Eight came in first among the U.S. teams in their High School race, beating out Lakeside (Alex Larsen, Scott Musselwhite, Will de Rubertis, Konnor Vander Leest, John Danielsson, Dan Queen, Lars Erickson, Cole Sander, coxswain Keith Carlson). The Varsity Lightweight Boys Eight offered a stout challenge in a fiercely contested heat on Saturday, taking fourth in a photo finish, just 1/10 of a second behind third place Mt. Baker Rowing Club (Sam Subbukumar, Andy Kruse, Kris Madsen, Trevor Maine, David Goon, Schuyler Westerhout, Michael Aber, John Michael Najarian, cox Nathan Johnson).
Varsity Girls
Varsity Girls 8: cox Chrina Munn, Justeen Komok, Kira Rain, Faith Eckford-Prosser, Rosie Brown, Amalie Millerd, Liz Fawley, Eryn McCassey, Abby Leigh.
The Varsity Girls Eight took second overall in a field of four Canadian and three American schools in the High School race (Abby Leigh, Eryn McCassey, Liz Fawley, Amalie Millerd, Rosie Brown, Faith Eckford-Prosser, Kira Rain, Justeen Komok, cox Chrina Munn). Holy Names Academy took first. The stern four from this race will race in the opening day Windermere Cup regatta on May 2nd (Rosie Brown, Faith Eckford-Prosser, Kira Rain, Justeen Komok, cox Sydney Gibbs). In an early final on Sunday, the first Lightweight Girls Four steadily gained and passed Holy Names in a sprint, taking second to Vashon Island (Alexina Boudreaux-Allen, Tica Drury, Jemma Blazina, Sam Dore, cox Sydney Gibbs). Following that race, the girls again launched for a second race with the rest of their squad for the Lightweight Eight. In a hotly contested final, Bainbridge and Brentwood raced bow to bow in open water. Bainbridge finally nosed ahead of Brentwood for second place behind Holy Names, which won in a last-minute sprint (Anneke Karreman, Jessie Sheldon, Alexina Boudreaux-Allen, Sophie Townsend, Elsa Derrickson, Tica Drury, Jemma Blazina, Sam Dore, cox Sydney Gibbs).
Junior Varsity Girls
In a gutsy final race, the JV Girls Four fought off a threat from Green Lake and blazed across the finish line in an exciting photo finish, coming in 0.4 seconds behind Pocock and 0.06 seconds ahead of Green Lake, earning silver (Elsa Godtfredsen, Carly Lant, Grace Nikunen, Carly Millerd, cox Chrina Munn).
Novice Boys
Novice Boys 4: cox Grant Sheridan, Luke Frank, Tim Strachan, Paeten Deschenne, Alex Nelson.
In an early race on Saturday, the first Novice Boys Eight pulled ahead of four crews down the 1500 meter course. The Bainbridge boys then battled it out with an Everett crew, bow to bow. In the final 300 meters of the race, Bainbridge sprinted, nosing out Everett by four seats to win gold. According to Head Coach Tim Goss, this was the first Bainbridge Boys Novice win in an Open A-level Eight race (Colin Veilleux, Gavin Veilleux, Conor Sweeney, Jackson Patrick, Peter Van Ness, Aaron Lewis-Sandy, Hudson Dore, John Merritt, cox Sam Carson). In the last race of the weekend for Bainbridge, the Novice Boys Four broke from a pack of three boats and in a runaway sprint moved into first place, held their lead, and won with a 5:17.98 time (Conor Sweeney, Gavin Veilleux, Colin Veilleux, Jackson Patrick, cox Sam Carson).
Novice Girls
Girls Varsity 4: Emma Pazoff, Jade Greer, Amina Lee, Kaylie Treskin, and cox McKenna O’Leary (unseen at right).
Also worthy of mention, in their Sunday final the second Novice Girls Eight steadily pulled forward from a cluster of boats and earned bronze (Emmalyne Takada, Ellie Genkinger, Isobel Ruiz, Julia Lapin, Greta Huber, Jillian Van Aken, Julia Batson, Olivia Pells, cox Olivia Zachariah).
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Featured photo shows gold-winning Novice Boys 8: John Merritt, Hudson Dore, Aaron Lewis-Sandy, Peter Van Ness, Jackson Patrick, Conor Sweeney, Gavin Veilleux, Colin Veilleux, and in front center cox Sam Carson. Photos courtesy of Anna Bernhard Carson.
