New Trier Rowing Captures Top Spots at SRAA National Championship

New Trier crews made some history at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America’s Championships atDillon Lake, Nashport, OH under mostly sunny skies on May 24 & 25. The Men’s Varsity Lightweight 8+ crew medaled in the competition for the first time ever, capturing third place in the national regatta, and both the Men’s and Women’s Freshmen 8+ boats won first place in their races for the first time since 2007. The Women’s Second Varsity 8+ also took the gold medal for the fifth year in a row.

Varsity Lightweight & JV boys’ coach Charles Richardson calledthe New Trier Men’s Lightweight 8+ “pioneers” for earning the first lightweight medal for the boys’ squad in New Trier history. “Led by four seniors, I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work these athletes have put in to get New Trier on the podium after consecutive years of placing just outside of medals,” Richardson said.

Coxswain Griffen Schmelter said, “Our lightweight boat does a really good job of getting out of the gates with the rest of the crews. Then we were able to trust our fitness and make gains on the rest of the boats in the toughest section of the race.”

Senior Molly George had this to say about her Second Varsity 8+ race, “My last row for New Trier was one of the best moments — a culminating success to finish off four years of hard work with the team. As I sat at the finish line catching my breath after the race, before the nine of us knew we were national champions, I realized that it didn’t matter whether we won first or second place. What a wonderful way to go out! I know I’ll take the positivity, persistence, and grace under pressure that I needed to exist on this team with me to excel in whatever I do.“ Fellow senior Jasmine Wu said the fact that 8 of the 9 rowers on the boar were seniors “made us want it more and pull harder.”

Coaches for the two gold-medaling freshmen boats praised what Novice girls’ Coach Hope Poor called their “substantial victory” in the finals. The girls won their final by six seconds; the boys “won by a boat length,” Novice boys’ Coach Josip Stolar said. “I was impressed with their maturity and ability to improve their performance with each race.”

Of the 11 New Trier crews who qualified to participate, 10 went on to race in their finals. Thecrews who medaled were the Women’s Freshmen 8+ 1st, Men’s Freshmen 8+ 1st, Women’s Second Varsity 8+ 1st, Women’s Varsity Lightweight 4+ 2nd& Men’s Varsity Lightweight 8+ 3rd.

Head Varsity boys’ coach Nate Kelp-Lenane said, “This was an exceptional weekend for the Trevians. I couldn’t be more proud of how the team operated and executed. A huge thank you to this senior class that lead the team with humility and hard work.”

Other crews that participated were: Women’s First Varsity 8+ 4th, Men’s Second Varsity 8+ 4th, Men’s Second Varsity 8+ 4th, Women’s Varsity Lightweight 8+ 5th, Men’s First Varsity 8+ 5th& Women’s Junior Varsity 8+ 6th.

Program Director Rose Marchuk noted that New Trier meets its best competition of the spring season at this regatta. “The competition is intense with boats battling down a 1,500 meter course stroke for stroke. It becomes a real test of trusting your conditioning and your teammates while pushing your physical and mental limits.”

More history: One astute parent pointed out that this was the first time there have been two sets of twins in New Trier’s top boats: Rachel and Jonah Rane coxed the 1stVarsity boats, and twins Tommy and Katherine Figura rowed in those boats as well. One of those twins, Katherine Figura, stroke of the Women’s First Varsity 8+, said her crew focused on “putting everything we had into the race, which translated into a fast start and an even faster finish.”