NA ROWING BEGINS SEASON WITH 10 BOATS IN A FINALS AT HURON RIVER SPRINTS
by: Rowing Contributor
North Allegheny Rowing kicked off its spring racing season on Saturday, April 18, at the Mitten Series #1 Huron River Sprints, held on the Kathryn Bennett Race Course in Milford, Michigan. With only seven water practices completed prior to competition due to challenging river conditions, the Tigers entered the regatta eager for valuable race experience and time on the water.
The day brought persistent rain and wind, creating difficult racing conditions but also providing an opportunity for athletes to test their resilience early in the season. The regatta featured a full schedule, with morning time trials and semifinals followed by afternoon finals. North Allegheny entered 14 boats, with 10 advancing to A finals.
Racing began with the Men’s Junior 8+ (Nik Kshirsagar, Ryan Lovejoy, Max Disque, Suraj Raina, Nate Earnest, Daniel Choi, Stephen Webber-Plank, Will Ason, and coxswain Jocelyn Munroe), which placed 10th in a deep time-trial field.
In the Men’s Varsity 2x, Neil Pore and Cooper Lemon placed fifth in their time trial to advance to the A final, where they finished sixth overall. The Men’s Junior 2x featured two Tiger entries. Nate Earnest and Suraj Raina delivered a strong performance, placing fifth in their time trial and sixth in the final. The second crew of Yuantao Tang and Tai Luangkesorn battled to a 10th-place finish in their time trial.
The Men’s Novice 4+ (Max Karn, Maxx Buffat, Ethan Murick, Finn Maguire, and coxswain Elise Kreiling) stood out as one of the top performers of the day. They placed fifth out of 24 boats in their time trial to secure a spot in the A final, where they improved to a fourth-place finish, just one second shy of the podium in a thrilling race.
On the women’s side, Lydia Humphrey, Ananya Doizhode, Lucy Hughes, and Jocelyn Munroe raced up in the Varsity 4x due to scheduling and placed fourth in their semifinal to advance to finals, where they finished fifth. The Women’s Junior 4x (Abby Greiner, Sophia Savena, Natalie Patel, and Tatiana Morillo) gained valuable experience in their morning race and went on to place eighth in the final.
Lucy Hughes returned quickly to the water to compete in the Women’s Varsity 2x alongside Natalie Helffrich. The pair placed third in their semifinal to earn a finals berth and ultimately finished fourth after a strong effort. Shortly after, Ananya Doizhode and Lydia Humphrey competed in the Women’s Junior 2x, placing second in their semifinal to qualify automatically for finals, where they secured sixth place.
In the Women’s Novice 4+, Sloane Wetzel, Alexis Sardonia, Abby Lambert, Kate Elliot, and coxswain Louisa Patel raced hard and placed 17th in their time trial, narrowly missing advancement to the B final by one position.
The novice men returned to the course in the Men’s Novice 4x+, with Elise Kreiling coxing Max Karn, Maxx Buffat, Bryce Munroe, and Nils Arteel. They placed sixth in their semifinal and matched that result in the final.
The Men’s Varsity 4x (Neil Pore, Alex Repinski, Nik Kshirsagar, and Cooper Lemon) faced some of the toughest conditions of the day, as a torrential downpour began just before their semifinal. They powered through to a third-place finish to qualify for finals. In a tightly contested final, where five boats were nearly even with 500 meters to go, the crew finished fourth, just 0.8 seconds off the podium.
The day concluded with two entries in the Men’s Junior 4x. Ryan Lovejoy, Daniel Choi, Max Disque, and Stephen Webber-Plank placed third in their semifinal, while Yuantao Tang, Emmett Robleto, Jace Laker, and Tai Luangkesorn finished fifth. In the final race of the day for North Allegheny, Lovejoy, Choi, Disque, and Webber-Plank delivered a strong performance to earn a silver medal in another close finish.
For a list of full results from Huron River Sprints, click here.
North Allegheny Rowing now turns its attention to Pittsburgh Sprints at Moraine State Park on Saturday, April 25. With valuable racing experience gained and speed continuing to build, the Tigers look to carry their momentum into the next competition.
