By Cathy Mizgerd and Kristen Loszewski
The Ann Arbor Pioneer High School crew team performed well across the board–with 11 boats qualifying for finals–while competing against the region’s strongest and fastest rowers on Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, 2023, in the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship. The novice men’s squad shone exceptionally bright, earning bronze medals in both the novice 4 and novice 8 events.
The races took place on the Kathryn Bennett Race Course at Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan. The Pioneer team was among 51 clubs from eight states—including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—that together entered 545 boats in this two-day series of time trials, semifinals, and final competitions.
On Saturday, boats raced in preliminary qualifying time trials in the morning and in semifinals in the early afternoon. Based on race times, the fastest boats then advanced to grand finals, held on Sunday. Some races also led to petite finals for a second tier of boats, depending on the total number of boats entered in the time trials.
The course spanned 1,500 meters along the northwestern edge of the 1,200-acre Kent Lake. Of the 18 boats that Pioneer entered in the regatta, nine advanced to grand finals and two to the petite finals. Two Pioneer boats in the grand finals received bronze medals. In addition, a victory in the petite final races helped Pioneer to an exciting first-place finish (or 9th overall) for the men’s varsity 8.
Conditions on Saturday morning were relatively mild, with temperatures in the low 60s in Milford at 8:00 a.m., when the first Pioneer boat began to race. Winds were from the east and northeast at about 3 mph, with gusts of up to 7 mph. Temperatures increased to the low 70s in the afternoon, with light rain starting around 3pm and lasting under an hour; winds were from the east and northeast at 4 mph, with gusts of up to 7 mph. Visibility was good from the Maple Beach shoreline, where spectators cheered. As the last boats of the day came off the recovery docks at about 5:13pm, the sun reappeared, shining brightly.
Sunday morning brought a stiffer breeze to the waters, causing the day’s first races—involving small boats, such as doubles—to be postponed slightly until conditions calmed. “It was viciously cold up there” at the start, noted Pioneer Rowing Club volunteer parent Natalie Fulkerson of Ann Arbor, who was positioned at the starting line throughout the day. Coming from the east and northeast, the winds in the morning reached 6 mph, with gusts of up to 12 mph. Temperatures in the morning climbed from the mid-50s to the low 60s, reaching the low 70s in the early afternoon, at which point the winds continued from the northeast at 7 mph, with gusts reaching 13 mph. The skies were sunny and bright in the afternoon.
“The best part about this weekend is: We had not gone this fast yet,” said Pioneer Rowing Club Head Coach Scott Menoch to the assembled team after the regatta’s final races concluded on Sunday afternoon. “We came away with a lot of strong performances across the board, and we can all be proud of that.”
The Pioneer High School men’s and women’s crew teams returned to Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan, on Saturday, May 20, 2022, for the State Championship Regatta, hosted by the Scholastic Rowing Association of Michigan.
Bronze
Men’s Novice 8+ with a time of 5.46.9: Austin Sexton, Nick Turenne, Kellum Colquitt, Oliver Germano, Sam Price, Ellis Wyatt, Jude Mys, Ben Wemert with Rocco Romeri as coxswain
Men’s Novice 4+, with a time of 6.37.3: Austin Sexton, Nick Turenne, Kellum Colquitt, Oliver Germano with Carlie Lehrmann as coxswain
1st Place in the Petite Finals (9th overall)
Men’s Varsity 8+ with a time of 5:27.2: Joe Clynes, Gavin Bassett, John Gronewold, Will Schumacher, Alder Saran, Foster Dugan, Rowan Higgins, Noah Fulkerson with Georgia Busse as coxswain
Additional Finalists
Women’s Novice 8+: Sofia Mackler, Jordan Davis, Maeve Coffman, Sofia Becker, Chloe Parrish, Gabby Soto-Ali, Maggie Cox, Keira McDonald with Celeste Pinkelman as coxswain
Women’s Varsity 4+: Anne Stroud, Alita Cunningham, Emmanuel Davis, Michelle Mobius with Cecilia Fortson as coxswain
Men’s Varsity 4+: Joe Clynes, Gavin Bassett, Rowan Higgins, Foster Dugan with Alex Hsu as coxswain
Men’s Junior 8+: Mateo Palomares, Timothy Wang, John Gronewold, Will Schumacher, Alder Saran, Cooper Duke, Miko Ng, Anuj Bapat with Georgia Busse as coxswain
Women’s 3rd Varsity 8+: Sofia Mackler, Jordan Davis, Maeve Coffman, Sofia Becker, Padme Barclay, Maggie Cox, Chloe Parrish, Muna Shakour with Carlie Lehrmann as coxswain
Women’s 2nd Varsity 8+: Zoe Richardson, Julie Huang, Margaret Loszewski, Iris Maturen, Astrid Becker, Gabby Soto-Ali, Kaytlin Steinman, Marissa Risveglia with Cecilia Fortson as coxswain
Women’s Varsity 8+: Anne Stroud, Madeline Houston, Alita Cunningham, Emmanuel Davis, Madie Gordon, Michelle Mobius, Catherine Neal, Raquel Burns with Allison Miller as coxswain
Additional Petite Finalists
Women’s Junior 8+: Catherine Neal, Madeline Houston, Margaret Loszewski, Iris Maturen, Astrid Becker, Kaytlin Steinman, Zoe Richardson, Marissa Risveglia with Allison Miller as coxswain
MAIN PHOTO: Pioneer High School Crew Team, Spring 2023 (Photo by Jerome Ng)
