Rowing News

by: Rowing Contributor

North Allegheny Rowing returned to the waters of Kensington Metropark in Milford, MI on May 10th & 11th to compete in the 2025 Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association Championships. With 579 entries from 48 teams representing nine Midwest states, the regatta provided a deep and competitive field. Following a weather-altered event in their previous race, the Tigers were eager to execute the speed and refinements they’d worked hard to develop over the last several weeks. 

The regatta opened Saturday with time trials and semi-finals under breezy conditions and a solid tailwind. North Allegheny brought 15 boats to the line, each looking to make a statement. 

Kicking off the day was the Women’s Novice 8+, coxed by Emma Coca and powered by Ananya Doizhode, Lucy Hughes, Lydia Humphrey, Louisa Patel, Greta Edfors, Tatiana Morillo, Natalie Patel, and Sophia Savena. After completing their race, officials discovered a timing error that impacted early events. The crew returned to the water later that morning, delivering a strong row and securing 10th place in time trials, earning a spot in Sunday’s B Final. 

Immediately following them, the Men’s Novice 8+, coxed by Ava Moore and featuring Ryan Lovejoy, James Hamed, Stephen Webber-Plank, Yuantao Tang, Will Ason, Matthew Collins, Tai Luangkesorn, and Jace Laker, finished 18th out of 25 crews, just two places short of qualifying for the finals in a deep field. 

The Tigers’ first sculling events came next. The Men’s Junior 2x of Cooper Lemon and Alex Repinski placed 14th out of 23 with a time of 5:30.14. The Men’s Varsity 2xs followed, with two NA entries: Miles Rees & Anthony Bertucci and Nolan Bunn & Layton Wright. Both boats advanced to Sunday finals, finishing 9th and 10th respectively. 

The novice rowers returned to the course in fours. The Women’s Novice 4+, led by coxswain Abby Berger and rowers Doizhode, Hughes, Humphrey, and Patel, placed 15th out of 26 crews. The Men’s Novice 4+, once again featuring Lovejoy, Hamed, Tang, and Webber-Plank, coxed by Luangkesorn, took 23rd in one of the largest events of the day. 

The Men’s Junior 4+ of Suraj Raina, Max Disque, Nik Kshirsagar, and Daniel Choi, coxed by senior Lauren Keyser, battled hard and finished 18th with a time of 5:24.04, nearly missing the finals by just two places. 

In the final time trial events of the morning, the Women’s Junior 2x of Natalie Helffrich and Jocelyn Munroe placed 16th out of 23, while the Women’s Varsity 2x of Katherine Zema and Madison Lambert powered into Sunday’s A Final with an impressive 4th-place finish. 

Racing continued into the afternoon with semi-finals. The Women’s Junior 4x of Helffrich, Abby Greiner, Alexandra Edfors, and Munroe placed 4th in their semi. Shortly after, the Women’s Varsity 4x of Zema, Lambert, Boe Sumerlin, and Charlee Sunday finished 5th, qualifying for the B Final on Sunday. 

In one of the day’s most improved performances, the Men’s Novice 4x+ of Collins, Ason, Nate Earnest, and Laker, coxed by Moore, raced to a 6th-place semi-final finish. The crew executed their technical focuses from recent practices and recorded their best race of the season. 

The Men’s Junior 4x of Lemon, Repinski, Neil Pore, and Christian Sperandeo raced with precision and took 3rd in their semi-final, earning a spot in Sunday’s A Final. Following them, the Men’s Varsity 4x of Rees, Bertucci, Carson Corona, and Roman Bellisario dominated their semi with a first-place finish, securing the Tigers’ fifth entry into Sunday’s A Finals. 

Sunday’s conditions flipped, as crews faced a strong headwind that made for challenging racing. The Women’s Novice 8+ returned to the water, closing their novice season with a gritty performance in a tight B Final. The Tigers surged through the line to claim 3rd place, a fitting capstone to their novice year. 

The Men’s Varsity 2x finals followed, where Rees & Bertucci claimed a commanding 1st place in the B Final, while Bunn & Wright finished 5th, both crews showcasing the depth of NA’s sculling talent. 

In the Women’s Varsity 4x B Final, Zema, Lambert, Sumerlin, and Sunday pushed hard down the course and took 1st place, continuing the program’s momentum in sculling events. 

Next up, the Women’s Varsity 2x delivered one of the highlights of the weekend. Zema and Lambert raced to a 3rd-place finish in the A Final, earning a bronze medal and a petition bid to the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship, a major achievement for the senior duo. 

The regatta concluded with the Men’s Junior 4x and Men’s Varsity 4x A Finals. Both boats placed 6th in their races after a competitive showing against some of the region’s best crews. 

By the end of the regatta, North Allegheny had earned: 19th overall in combined points, 11th in Women’s Sculling Points, 11th in Men’s Sculling Points, and 10th in Division II combined points. Each crew’s performances reflected the hard work and technical refinement put in over the spring season. 

Up next, seven select lineups will travel east to Philadelphia to compete in the historic Stotesbury Cup Regatta on May 16th & 17th. The Tigers will test themselves against fast competition on the Schuylkill River in the largest scholastic regatta in the world.