Woodlands junior’s rowing team wins silver medals in Austin

The Juniors program of The Rowing Club of the Woodlands competed at the Pumpkin Head of the Colorado Regatta in Austin on October 29. This was the team’s last regatta of the fall season and it had a long course: 5,000 meters.

Three silver medals were won in races by the Junior team (and a fourth silver in a fun category).

Varsity members Hugo Gomez and J .D. Telford finished in second place with18:37 in the Men’s Junior Lightweight Double Scull. It was a popular race with a total of six Woodland’s doubles competing. Blake Eastwick and Andrew Gomez took 5th at 19.04, Clay Jones and Nate Johnson were 7th with 19.58, Hector Bandera and Christian Poradek was 8th with a time of 20.03, Ryan Lynch and Ian Miller were 9th at 20.28 and Varsity Captain Surabhi Reddi and Nico Campalans came in 12th with 20.50.

Of the novices, the quad with Daniel Dalton, Lewis Longbottom, James Montano and John Puzz finished in 18.49 to take the silver. Longbottom, a ninth grader said the quad was really hard work, “lots of sweat, but it paid off! Longbottom competed in a second event, the Men’s Junior Novice Single Scull finishing with a time of 23:36 in second place. Of the single he said, “It was peaceful, nice, with the trees along the lake in Austin, but it was cold. I was shivering and my cheeks were bright red!”

Leonard Anderson, Rowing Club of the Woodlands Junior coach said, “All of the kids did extremely well. They worked hard, and all showed improvement. The team is moving in the right direction. The varsity team is working out which rowers will race in which boats, with new varsity team members this year, they are still adjusting.”

The Juniors program is open to students in grades 8-12 from any area school and homeschooled students are also able to participate. Competitive races are open to students in grades 9-12. First year rowers are in the novice category. “Everybody gets an opportunity to compete in a race. Everyone races against others at their same level, giving them an opportunity to test themselves” Coach Anderson said.

Varsity Girls Captain Stephanie Mallard said, “We had a good time at this regatta.” Held the weekend before Halloween, this regatta has a unique option open to rowers. “Some rowers dressed up in costume, it was funny.” Of the girls, she said, “One of our quads dressed as nerds and another quad dressed as superhero The Flash.” But it was a Woodlands boy’s quad that won second place for best costume at the regatta: The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf: Ryan Lynch, Nick Fazzino, Clay Jones and Nate Johnson.

Although the fall session of rowing has now ended, the Woodlands Juniors team is still busy practicing four days a week doing general conditioning and rowing practice on erg machines. An indoor Erg Rodeo is the next competitive event the team is slotted to compete at in February 2012. After that the spring season of rowing kicks off and the team will once again be seen practicing rowing sculls on Lake Woodlands.