Local teams fare well at nationals

By Hugh Rist For the News & Messenger
Published: May 27, 2008

Woodbridge's boys' junior four and Forest Park's girls' junior quad saved their best results for last, with the girls winning a gold medal and the boys taking silver at the United States Rowing National Championships this past weekend in Oak Ridge, TN.

Forest Park's unit of stroke Ciera Mead, three-seat Caitlin Bryant, two-seat Courtney Coombs, and bow Alex Collins beat Philadelphia's Sacred Heart by .7 seconds for the title with a time of 5:54.4. The Bruins showing was notable on several fronts. First, the stroke and bow on the boat sat in the same seats on Forest Park's silver-medal quad at the Virginia Scho-lastic Rowing Championships.

Also, it was the first time any Forest Park boat had ever won a medal of any kind at nationals—let alone gold. In an ironic twist, Forest Park actually purchased its winning boat from Sacred Heart before the season making its victory all the more satisfying.

"We were so excited," Mead said. "At the end of the race we were tired, but when we got back to shore after the race all of us were crying. We were so happy and what we had just done began to sink in."

Mead said it was a little difficult at first to row with rowers outside of the lineup she was accus-tomed (which was more like the lineup that won silver at states).

"But we are all really close, so if you have practiced together at least once, it doesn't take much to click together. There was some urgency as we thought about (the magnitude of the event), but we are all so competitive that we just wanted to do the best we could."

The Woodbridge boys boat, stroked by junior Tyler Dawson, medaled in its final eight regattas, including winning the gold medal at states and taking bronze as part of an extremely competitive field and under adverse conditions at the prestigious Stotesbury Cup Regatta.

Last weekend, while rowing against some of the nation's best crews but much improved conditions, the boat, which featured three-seat Matt Doody, two-seat Val Stutz, and bow J. C. Fisher along with coxswain Katie Garrity, won its preliminary and semifinal heats by open water margins, giving the rowers optimism for gold going into the final, according to Woodbridge coach Mike Malak.

"But our boat was not fully aligned in our lane at the start of the race, costing about three-quarters of a boat length," Malak said. "The boys hung in there, but never were able to overcome the tough start."

The Woodbridge boat bested Haverford from Havertown, PA, near Bryn Mawr, for second place by .2 seconds, with a time of 5:08.0, nearly four seconds behind the eventual winners, Manhasset, from Long Island, NY, which finished in 5:04.1.

Still, it was a spectacular way to finish the season for the boat. The silver medal marked the sec-ond-straight year a Woodbridge boat has finished in the top two at nationals. The Vikings' girls junior double of Paula Coughlin and Laura Doody took gold at nationals last season.

That pair, along with sophomores Allison Mayberry and Katherine Changes, advanced to the finals in the senior four category and finished fourth in a race won by Ocean City Maryland at 5:30.0. The Woodbridge boat, stroked by Doody and coxed by senior Danielle Woods, came in at 5:43.7. Malak noted the Woodbridge unit beat VSRC gold-medalist McLean during the semifi-nals.

But Woodbridge was by no means the only area school to have a strong showing at nationals. Hylton's senior double of Victoria Lazor and Kelly Bogart, finished third in its semifinal race, despite a problem with one of the riggers, Malak said.

Since Hylton coach Brian Tassi did not go to nationals with the boat, Malak said the Woodbridge coaches helped the pair make a temporary fix of its rigger for the semifinal race.

"They ordered a part and it came in overnight, so they were able to race in the finals. We were prepared to let them use our double boat if it came to that," Malak said.

In the finals. Bogart and Lazor took fourth with a time of 6:06.8 in a race won by Balston Spa at 5:51.1.

Meanwhile, a senior eight from Gar-Field did not advance to the finals after competing in the pre-liminaries, while Forest Park's senior quad finished sixth at 6:06.3 in a race won by Episco-pal (5:08.9). That boat's lineup consisted of Nicole Meyer (stroke), three-seat Marie Gately, two-seat Mariam Ahmad, and bow Becca Lee. Lee and Meyer were also part of the silver medal-winning boat at states.