5/13/2007

On May 12^th the Tulsa Rowing Club Juniors competed in the Central District Youth Rowing Championship held in Oklahoma City, OK. The regatta featured 15 rowing teams from the following states Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, and New Mexico. The Tulsa team managed to win 2 regional championships and received 2 invitations to the USRowing Youth National Championship Regatta.

The Tulsa Juniors competed in many events from Novice to Varsity. By the end of the day the team had won 2 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal and a Bronze medal.

One of the highlights of the day was the Boys Varsity Eight. The boys eight took and early lead and held on in the last five hundred meters to win the regional championship over crews from St. Louis, Kansas State, Austin and Colorado. This marked the first time that Tulsa had won a regional championship in the eight person boat category. The crew for the boat was as follows.

Boys Varsity Eight (1^st Place – Regional Champions) – Invitation to Youth Nationals

Chris Light – coxswain – BTW

Jayson Williamson – stroke – Holland Hall

Hunter Wagner – 7 seat – Holland Hall

Evan Gates – 6 seat – Holland Hall

Sam Berntson – 5 seat – Edison

Elliot Price – 4 seat – TSAS

Logan Mercer – 3 seat – Bishop Kelley

Jim Daniels – 2 seat – Bishop Kelley

Andrew Pate – bow seat – Jenks

“I’m thoroughly impressed with this achievement. These young men have worked hard in this boat and all of their work has paid off. I also want to take the time to acknowledge Geoffrey Gill (Union) who worked as hard as the actual crew in his capacity as substitute rower. Without his commitment and effort we probably wouldn’t have accomplished what we did today,” said Head Coach Neil Bergenroth of his crew’s performance.

Another high point of the day’s racing was the Girls Varsity Eight who also performed magnificently to place in the silver medal position in their respective event.

“The girls knew what they needed to do to be invited to Nationals. Again, they worked hard, realized their goal and made it happen,” said Coach Bergenroth. “Without the support of the girls Varsity Four – Stephanie Ames, Liz Snyder, Emily Saffell, Dakota Wilkin and Peter Gehres we wouldn’t have been able to realize what happened today.

The crew for the girls eight was as follows:

Girls Varsity Eight (2^nd place) – Invitation to Youth Nationals

Paige Fedon – Coxswain – Cascia Hall

Gentry Klawitter – stroke seat – BTW

Taylor Jones – 7 seat – TSAS

Catharine Brierre – 6 seat – BTW

Anne Campbell – 5 seat – TSAS

Elena Fisher – 4 seat – TSAS

Anna Royce – 3 seat – Holland Hall

Kelsey Kline – 2 seat – Union

Tamara Clayton – bow seat – Grace

Other great performances came from the girl’s novice team who won a bronze medal in the girl’s novice quad and a gold medal in the girl’s novice four. The win in the girl’s novice four was particularly meaningful as the team had won the regional title in this event at last year’s regatta.

The crews for these boats were as follows:

Girls Novice Quad (3^rd)

Brooke Myers – stroke – Jenks

Carolyn Beattie – 3 seat – BTW

Kelsey Kline – 2 seat – Union

Bronwyn Tawney – bow seat – Jenks

Girls Novice Four (1^st – regional champions)

Peter Gehres – coxswain – BTW

Brooke Myers – stroke – Jenks

Carolyn Beattie – 3 seat – BTW

Emily Biner – 2 seat - Bishop Kelley

Ashlee Fitzpatrick – bow seat - Bishop Kelley

Other Noteworthy results follow:

Boys Varsity Four (5^th Place)

Chris Light – Coxswain - BTW
Jayson Williamson - Holland Hall

Hunter Wagner – Holland Hall

Elliot Price - TSAS

Sam Berntson - Edison

Girls Varsity Four (6^th place)

Chris Light – Coxswain - BTW

Gentry Klawitter - BTW

Taylor Jones - TSAS

Catharine Brierre - BTW
Anne Campbell - TSAS

Boys J16 1x (5^th Place)

Geoffrey Gill

Boys Novice Quad (4^th in heat)

Geoffrey Gill - Union
Sam Scott - Jenks
Ben Gehres – Town and Country

Aaron Charrier - TSAS

Boys Novice Four (4^th in heat)

Sam Scott - Coxswain

Geoffrey Gill - Union

Aaron Charrier - TSAS

Ben Gehres – Town and Country

Jeffrey Moseley – Holland Hall

The team now has another month of training ahead of it as they prepare for the USRowing Youth National Invitational on June 8^th – 10^th in Cincinnati, OH.

Tulsa Rowing Club Juniors is also running at summer camp (June 18^th through June 29^th, 2007) for student athletes who are interested in learning to row and joining the program. Full information can be found at the team’s website www.tulsajuniorsrowing.org. There are only three spots left in the camp due to increased demand from the community.