Under blue skies the Green Lake Junior Crew made an impressive showing at the 49 th Annual Brentwood Regatta on Vancouver Island last weekend. However, the skies over Mill Bay were deceiving as the wind kicked up each day causing significant delays and race cancellations.
“(At Brentwood) it is very frequent that you can’t race,” said Coby Stites, Green Lake experienced girls’ coach. “But there’s not another regatta that handles weather better than this regatta. No one is immune to the weather. It’s a testament to our strong team that takes what it gets and makes the most of it.”
Girls’ Results
Regrettably for the girls’ team, the novice-8, junior varsity-8 and the U17 lightweight-8, a blend of novice and experienced, were not able to row this weekend due to wind. The varsity quad did not advance.
However, the varsity-4 and junior varsity-4 (both rowing the Jim Beaulaurier ), and the varsity lightweight-8 (in the Dave Baugh) – a late add to the 3V-8 race –were victorious.
The U17-8 also was triumphant in the Dave Baugh. Despite a collision at 1:15. Our coxswain remained calm and got the girls back into the race. The boat won after protesting interference.
The varsity-8 brought home gold rowing the Lenny Kong III for the fourth year in a row.
While Bainbridge Island won the overall points trophy, Green Lake girls made a strong showing coming in second.
Boys’ Results
The boys, on the other hand, were able to finish more races than the girls. The second novice-8 placed fourth. The 4V placed sixth in the 3V event and the varsity-8 placed third.
The first novice-8, 3V-8 (rowing the Nat Hopper II) and junior varsity-8 (rowing the Jean K. LaFromboise) each won their respective races.
With such a strong finish, the boys’ team won the Brentwood overall points trophy.
An Eye Toward Regionals
After Brentwood there is a lot of excitement building for Regionals, which will be held May 16-19 in Vancouver, Washington.
According to Scott Selfridge, Green Lake experienced boys’ coach, the team will continue to follow their mantra of ‘Any seat. Any boat. Anytime.’
“(The boys) have a lot of momentum heading into regionals,” said Selfridge. “I’d like to see the 3V and junior varsity boys win, have the varsity boys qualify for nationals, and watch the novices continue their regional dominance.”
Stites says the girls are ready for regionals with the 3V and 4V crews surging and picking up speed all the time. The junior varsity boat has had a challenging season, but they are planning to step it up at regionals. The varsity boat is also positioned well for regionals. What’s more, Stites says Green Lake has the “strongest lightweight boat in years and years and years”.
“That’s what I love about our Regionals,” says Stites. “There’s an event for everyone. ”
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