Northville Rowers Make a Splash at Midwest Championship Regatta

The Northville Rowing Club recently competed at the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association Championship Regatta held on May 12-13, at Dillon State Park in Nashport, Ohio. This annual regional event, which this year hosted 49 high school teams from eight states, qualifies the top rowers to compete at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship Regatta. Northville’s traditionally strong sculling crews (two oars per rower) seized a pair of bronzes and a silver amongst this impressive regional field of rowers. The Men’s Varsity 2x of Brett Somerville (senior) and Mitchell Encelewski (junior) rowed a time of 5:44.950 which gave them second place in the finals in a tight battle for the top spots. Somerville also brought home the Men’s Varsity 1x Bronze with a time of 6:09.002. Not to be outdone by the men, the dynamic duo of Isabella Cureton (senior) and Sara Bennett (junior) in the Women’s Varsity 2x earned an exciting close race finish for the third place spot with a time of 6:35.575. With nine boats making it into the finals races, and many of those earning a number of 5th, 6th and 7th places, the Northville rowers demonstrated the depth of this growing team. In the overall team standings, Northville placed 19th – an impressive feat considering the size and experience levels of much of the competition. We are excited to announce that Somerville and Encelewski will be continuing on as their second place finish earned them a spot to compete at the National Championships level in New Jersey on May 25-26.

Throughout the Spring season, there were a number of other team highlights from this fifty-one rower strong co-ed team. At the Floodtown Regatta in Ann Arbor, the Novice Men’s 8+ boat demonstrated that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the seasons to come with a strong first place finish. The boat consisted of freshmen novices Brendan Butterfield (Coxswain), Nate Bennett, Adam Bis, Drew DiFrancesco, Thaddeus Felosak and Kyle Walter; and sophmore novices Zack Bonofiglio, Jimmy King and Luke Lesh. At the St. Mary’s Prep Laddie Cup Regatta in Orchard Lake, Michigan, Brett Somerville achieved a third place finish in the Men’s Varsity Single. With numerous finals races being cancelled due to a rainy, cold and windy event, the team still was able to showcase many fourth and fifth place finishes. One of the biggest events of the spring season was our team’s on-water practice location moving to Kensington Metropark. This beautiful new location will allow for additional exposure to the surrounding community to the sport of rowing, and it will also give Northville Rowing Club a much-needed solid base for the growth and expansion of the team.

Reflecting on the club’s performance at the Midwest championship, Head Coach Nick Bickes stated, “This is the club's highest medal count at Midwest. We are looking forward seeing Brett and Mitchell perform on the national stage.” The team is gearing up for a strong final season performance at the State Competition this weekend in Grand Rapids and we wish the best of luck to the team’s graduating seniors.

This summer, the Northville Rowing Club will host a variety of Learn to Row camps - For incoming 9th through 12th grade high school students who are interested in rowing, for Middle School aged students who would like to try the sport, as well as an Adult Learn to Row – there is something for everyone!

Registration is now open for these summer camps on our team website: www.NorthvilleRowing.com . Additional summer camps and team information can be found on the website as well. The Northville Rowing Club is a non-profit, 501c3, rowing for Northville High School. It is a co-ed, competitive varsity club sport with Fall and Spring competition seasons, with an opportunity to earn a Varsity Letter. With no experience required, we welcome 9th to 12th Grade students from Northville High School.

Photo: Midwest Medalists from left: Mitchell Encelewski, Brett Somerville, Sara Bennett, Isabella Cureton.
Photo: Northville Rowing Club team at Midwest Regatta
Photo: Northville Men’s Novice 8+ at Floodtown from left: Coach Blake, Nate Bennett, Thaddeus Felosak, Kyle Walter, Drew DiFrancesco, Zack Bonofiglio, Luke Lesh, Jimmy King, Adam Bis and Brendan Butterfield
Photo: Midwest Women’s Junior 8+ at Midwest from left: Gabby Evangelista, Chloe Sargent, Allison Dunn, Nina Moyski, Erinn Reinert, Marissa Poe, Allison Kehoe, Cynthia Huang, Tessa McCarthy