AROUND OUA: Head of the Trent

Gryphons have strong showing at Head of the Trent

Peterborough, ON - On Saturday, October 3 at the Head of the Trent Regatta, the Gryphons Varsity Rowing team produced some of their best results at this prestigious event in several years.
 
The day started off on a very strong note when third year captain Olivia Shotyk placed 3^rd in a very competitive Heavyweight Women's Single category. Over a 5km race, Olivia finished 1min behind first place and 15 seconds behind second.
 
The next Guelph boat to cross the finish line was the Heavyweight Men's 4+ (4^th year captain Lukas Hilgendag, Alex Boland, Matthew Larter, Justin Salvucci and coxswain Katherine de Klerk). In another highly competitive field, the Heavy Men's 4+ finished in 6^th, less than 0.1seconds off of 5^th.
 
Next to race was the JV Men's 2x, racing in the varsity heavyweight category. First years Jacob DeVries and Aiden Hickie-Bentzen had a great race and finished 6^th overall.
 
The Lightweight Men's 2x was the last Guelph Varsity Boat to race in Division 2 and Gregory Hanta and Myles Cameron did not disappoint! Their dedicated training this winter and the time they logged in their this summer paid off with a 3^rd place finish.
 
A Guelph Alumni Women's 8+ also rowed in Division 2. Morgan Brown (Class of 2013), Tani Weber (Class of 2013), Amy McClure (Class of 2014), Rachael Kearns (Class of 2015), Kerith Gordon (Class of 2012), Teresa Reitz (Class of 2013), Ariel Lenske (Class of 2014), Courtney Kiss (Class of 2010) and cox Nicole Gough (Class of 2011) placed 8^th in a co-ed field.
 
Next up for Guelph was the Heavyweight Women's 4+ of Ainsleigh Hennig (coxswain), Zyra Edwards, Megan Kamachi, Kerin Hudson and Erika Schwass. After a strong race through increasingly windy conditions the Heavyweight Women's 4+ posted a very strong second half to finish 4^th overall, just 3 seconds behind 3^rd.
 
The Lightweight Women's 4+ (Sarah Kassenaar, Emily Walsh, Chantal Dzisiak, Claire Benwood and coxswain Rachel Keirstad) also had a very strong second half of the race to finish 8^th overall.
 
The JV Women's 2x (Ashley Hosker and Rachel Malcove) raced in the Heavyweight Women's 2x category and finished 10^th, 2 seconds off of 9^th.
 
The last varsity race was the best result of the day. Lightweight Women's 2x of Kaitlyn Dennis and Sarah Vantfoort finished 2^nd.
 
Guelph's Novice Men's 8+ finished 9^th in a field that saw only 20 seconds separate 3^rd to 9^th place. Novice Heavyweight Women finished 8^th while the lightweight women DNF.
From Oct 8-10 Gregory Hanta (U23LM1x), Olivia Shotyk (U23W1x) and Sarah Vantfoort (JrW1x) will be competing with Team Ontario at the National Rowing Championships in Port Dalhousie, St. Catherines. The rest of the team will have Thanksgiving weekend off from racing.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Lightweights lead the way for Brock Rowers at Head of the Trent

On a day where the temperatures dipped to 5° and winds gusted up to 50km/h, the Brock Badgers rowing team took to the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario to race the prestigious Head of the Trent. The regatta, known as the largest one-day regatta in North America, brings together competitors from across Eastern Canada, including all universities competing in the OUA.  As it is the first regatta of the year involving all university crews, it provides a great opportunity to check out the competition.

Brock crews showed that the team is in for another successful year, picking up 12 medals, including one gold. The Badgers also earned six silver medals, along with five bronze.

Starting the day for Brock in Division 1 of racing were six single scullers, who came away with three silver medals. Winning the first medal was Nick Heffernan in the Club Men's Single, followed by Jacob Thomas in the University Lightweight Men's Single, and capped off by Katherine Walker in the University Lightweight Women's Single. Also racing the single for Brock were Austin Cameron, Matt Finley, and Stephanie Mowder.

In the next flight of races, Brock captured two more medals. The University Heavyweight Men's Coxed Four finished in second place, while the University Heavyweight Men's Double came a close third. In the coxed four, Jamie Germond, Ryan Malcowski, Ian Pierce, Scott Murphy, and Zak Lewis lost to the Western University, while Zach Koroll and Matt Gamey were third behind Western and McGill. Both crews won gold last weekend at Head of the Welland.

The third flight of races brought some close racing for Badger crews, as the Women's Heavyweight and Lightweight Eight's faced rough conditions during the early-afternoon race. The heavyweight eight, consisting of Andrea Jansen, Alyssa Toffolo, Alex Dunlap, Jen Beaudette, Karen Dancy, Isabella Mazzarolo, Taylor Iseppon, Vicky Lea Thompson, and Aysha Martina finished third overall behind Western and Queen's. The crew was happy with the result, as this was the first time the combination has been raced this season. The lightweight eight finished in fourth place, behind crews from Western, Queen's, and University of Toronto.

Next up for Brock was the Heavyweight and Lightweight Men's Eights. Battling a strong headwind and choppy waters, each crew finished just a few seconds back of first place. In the lightweight eight, Amy MacLean, James Potts, Brandon D'Orazio, Grayson Gray, Taylor Ashwood, Zach Whiteley, Jacob Thomas, James Myers, and Brandan Andrews posted a time of 15:35, losing to Western University by 7 seconds. In the next race of the day, the heavyweight eight, consisting of Jamie Germond, Dave de Groot, Matt Finley, Nick Heffernan, Zach Koroll, Ian Pierce, Scott Murphy, Zak Lewis, and Ryan Malcowski completed the course in 15:53, just 6 seconds behind Western.

Brock was well represented in the fifth flight of races, as athletes who raced in the women's eights earlier in the day competed in the University Heavyweight and Lightweight Coxed Four. The lightweight women's program captured their second medals of the days, as Laura Court, Sarah Mambella, Olivia Bagshaw, Katie Ayres, and Erin Corkery placed third behind Western and University of Ottawa. It was a tight race, as there was less than nine seconds between second place Ottawa, and sixth place Queen's.

In the final flight of the day, Brock had six crews racing. Women's Heavyweight and Lightweight Doubles were first done the course, followed by Novice Eights, with the Junior Varsity Coxed Four the last race of the day. Katherine Walker picked up her second silver medal of the day, as she raced with Stephanie Mowder in the heavyweight double. It was a close race, as the double missed gold by less than one second. Following the heavyweights was the Women's Lightweight Double, who finished fourth overall. Badger novices got their second race experience of the year, as the men's crew finished in 12th place, and the women's crews finished in 5th and 15th. The novice season builds up to the OUA Developmental Regatta, which takes place on October 22nd. In the last race of the day, Brock picked up their first gold medal in the Junior Varsity Men's Coxed Four. Mackenzie Boyes, Luke Gadsdon, Matt Gamey, John Hagemans, and Eric Buchanan came together quickly, winning by gold by over 40 seconds.

It was a positive end to the headrace season for all crews, and the attention now turns in the next few weeks in preparation for the final regattas of the season. Next week the university season takes a short break as the National Rowing Championships will take place in St. Catharines. With many Brock Badgers racing, it will be another big weekend for the team.

Source: Brock Badgers

Marauders make their mark at the Head of the Trent

The Head of the Trent regatta marks the start of true fall rowing with frigid temperatures, and in its 45th year, it lived up to expectations.

The Marauders fielded boats in 18 of the day's events with many crews finishing top five in their events. The singles started the day off early in the morning pushing hard through the open, choppy water and then making moves on boats in the sheltered stretches. Aubrey Oldham raced the club single, finishing fourth in a time of 20:10.75, followed by Karl Zimmermann in the next race finishing third with a time of 19:34.69. In the women's single, D'Arcy Arends finished in a time of 23:08.5, holding strong just a few seconds off of Guelph's medal finish.

The next division launched with the men's fours and double making their way up the winding 5km course. The heavyweight four of Kaitlyn Akitt (cox), Erik Bertram (stroke), Michael DiDonato, Logan Madill, and Jordan Stevenson (bow) came in ninth with a time of 20:20.79, while the lightweight boat of William Staples (stroke), John Butler, Cole Creaney, Ben Macphail (bow), and Jacqueline Watt (cox) finished sixth in a time of 19:35.27. Tredon Simon (stroke) and Ben Anthony (bow) rowed the heavyweight double to a seventh place finish in 21:51.57.

Division three sent the women's fours to the start for the club race. The lightweight boat of Jessica Hill (stroke), Brynley Hanson-Wright, Myma Okuda-Rayfuse, Sarah Zhou (bow), and Alina Barnett (cox) moved up on other crews through the gusts, passing four boats before the cannel to finish fourth in a time of 20:59.34. The heavyweight four of Kristen Power (stroke), Annemarie Van Halteren, Megan Wurtele, Emma Hemsley (bow), and Kennedy Hao (cox) came in sixth with a time of 22:12.63.

The men's lightweight eight had a good race coming sixth in time of 17:30.18. They maneuvered well as they walked down Carleton, and had a solid push in the final leg of the race. The heavyweight eight passed Toronto right before the canal, landing them fifth overall in a quick time of 16:46.94.

D'Arcy Arends and Yasa Ibragimova, in the women's double, came out strong for a fourth place finish. They crossed the line in 22:24.58 with a thirty-second lead over the other nine crews in the race. The women's fours took to the water again in the afternoon, this time in the university division. The heavyweights finished in 22:19.91, almost matching their morning time despite stronger head winds to battle through, bringing them to an eighth place finish.

This regatta is the largest headrace in North America with over 1200 people rowing the course during the day to represent 50 different universities and rowing clubs. Watching novice crews as the final event of the day has become a tradition at Trent's homecoming. The canal under the bridge is lined with spectators as the new rowers come down the gauntlet of cheering teammates and students. McMaster's first novice men's boat of Mark Morton (stroke), Matthew Lauzon, Karlo Delalic, Daniel Mehrzadeh, Tyler de Jonge, Harminder Kang, Rob Armstrong and Brad Roughton (bow) came down the shortened novice course in a time of 15:24.41. They made a move on two boats as they reached open water after the canal to bring them into a fifth place. The first novice women's eight of Alina Barnett (cox), Michaela Verstraten (stroke), Bethany Anne, Michelle Kwong, Kiera Allen, Mady Francolini, Katie Monkhouse, Amy Foubert and Michaela Klasen (bow) matched this success, rowing calmly through the canal to a sixth place finish in 17:13.06. The second novice men's and women's crews finished with times of 17:12.58 and 22:31.81 respectively.

Between Thursday, October 8 and Saturday, October 10, a select group of Marauders will be competing at the National Rowing Championships, where they will be up against the best rowers in the country. After Thanksgiving, the rowing team will be spending the time off of school at training camp to prepare for the most important races of the season coming in the next weeks.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Gaels finish with top three placings at Head of the Trent

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - On Saturday October 3rd the Gaels competed in their second regatta of the season, Head of the Trent in Peterborough Ontario. This was the first regatta for the Queen's novice team and there was also a special appearance from Queen's Alumni for a men's and women's 8+ Alumni reunion race.

Starting off the regatta was the single scull events, Larkin Davenport Huyer set the pace for the rest of the regatta with a win in the Championship single, the overall fastest women's time of the day, and Meridith Adam's followed with a second place finish for Queen's in the club single event, despite the windy conditions.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon Queen's had 11 top 3 finishes, including 2nd place in both the heavy and lightweight varsity Women's 8+'s, 2nd in the heavyweight women's 4+, and 2nd in the Junior varsity men's 4+.  Finishing off the end of the regatta with another win in the Junior Varsity Women's 4+!

Next weekend some athletes will be competing for their respective provinces at the RCA national rowing championships while all other athletes will be preparing for the Brock invitational regatta on October 17th.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Rowers reach the podium three times at the Head of the Trent

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues rowing team won three bronze medals at the Head of the Trent on Saturday, October 3 in Peterborough, Ont.
 
U of T's women's lightweight eights of Emily Donaldson, Heather Noble, Megan Lewicki, Jasmine Carter, Nicola Plummer, Rebekah Sibbauld, Rachel Dick, Agnes Soos and Oksana Wankiewicz placed third in a time of 19:10.51.
 
Noble and Wankiewicz also earned a bronze medal in the lightweight double, finishing the race in a time of 16:34.94.
 
Toronto's men's lightweight fours of Jessie MacAlpine, Matthew Brander, Andrei Vovk, Jacob Giesbrecht and Jack Ren finished third in 19:01.66
 
Two other U of T boats earned fourth-place finishes on the day. Toronto's women's lightweight fours of Emily Donaldson, Megan Lewicki, Jasmine Carter, Nicola Plummer, Agnes Soos finished just 0.3 seconds off the podium, while Rachel Dick placed fourth in the lightweight single.
 
Stephanie Noble also placed fifth in the open single race.
 
The Varsity Blues return to action this weekend, October 8-10, as they head to St. Catharines, Ont., for the Canadian Rowing Championships.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues