By Cathy Mizgerd and Kristen Loszewski
With loudly cheering spectators lining the lake’s northeastern shore, the Ann Arbor Pioneer High School crew team battled against the brisk waters of Orchard Lake this past Saturday, May 6, at the annual Laddie Cup regatta hosted by St. Mary’s Preparatory School in Orchard Lake, Michigan.
The Pioneer team was one of 17 schools and clubs which together entered 151 boats in the day’s 61 events, including 33 heat races and 28 scored final races. After preliminary heat trials in the morning, the fastest three boats in each heat were invited to participate in the afternoon’s final events on the 1,500-meter course, which accommodates up to eight lanes at a time. Pioneer rowers earned one silver and two bronze medals.
The day was mostly clear, with long periods of bright sun interrupted by intermittent cloud cover. Temperatures ranged from the upper 40s to the upper 60s. Winds were from the east-southeast at around 2-4 mph in the morning and increased to 5 mph from the southeast in the mid-afternoon, with maximum gusts of around 9 mph. Conditions on these waters can be choppy and challenging to navigate even under the best of circumstances, due to the positioning of the lake.
“We got a lot of racing in today; a lot of time was spent on the water,” Head Coach Scott Menoch told members of the team as they assembled at the end of the day. “This marks the end of the regular season, and we now go into the championship season; we are getting ready for the championship races coming up.”
Next up for the Pioneer crew team is the two-day Midwest Rowing Scholastic Association (MRSA) Championship regatta on Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, on the Kathryn Bennett Race Course on Kent Lake at Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan.
Silver:
Men’s Novice 8+, with a time of 5:55.0: Austin Sexton, Nick Turenne, Kellum Colquitt, Oliver Germano, Sam Price, Ellis Wyatt, Jude Mys, and Ben Wemert, with Rocco Romeri as coxswain
Bronze:
Women’s Second Varsity 8+, with a time of 6.27.0: Zoe Richardson, Julie Huang, Margaret Loszewski, Iris Maturen, Astrid Becker, Kaytlin Steinman, Eda Gur, and Marissa Risveglia, with Cecilia Fortson as coxswain
Women’s Novice 8+, with a time of 6:42.0: Sofia Mackler, Jordan Davis, Maeve Coffman, Sofia Becker, Padme Barclay, Peyton Peters, Chloe Parrish, and Maggie Cox, with Carlie Lehrmann as coxswain
MAIN PHOTO: Men’s Novice 8+ rows to silver (photo by David Fulkerson)
