On Saturday February 2nd, 2013 the Tulsa Rowing Club competed in the South West Ergometer Amateur Tournament held in Dallas, TX. The club performed exceptionally well in both the adult and junior categories. This indoor rowing event features events for different age and weight categories. Individual athletes compete over two thousand meters on Concept2 rowing machines and try to record the fastest time possible in their age and experience categories. At the close of racing, the team had won seven medals and also placed well in other events with the majority of the team recording personal best times.
In the Women’s Junior Lightweight category Holland Hall Junior Emily Hyde rowed to a bronze place finish with a time of 8:01. Victoria Nichols (Cascia Hall) placed 12th out of 38 entries in the Women’s Novice Lightweight competition closely followed by MEgan Nichols (Cascia Hall) placing in 18th place.
In the Men’s Junior Coxswain event, Holland Hall Sophomore Kelley Flint won the gold medal in a time of 7:35.3. Flint was closely followed by fellow teammates Ethan Gonders (Riverfield) and Garrett Allan ( Union) who placed 3rd and 4th in the same event.
In the Men’s Junior Novice Lightweight event, Jenks Sophomore Josiah Grzywacz won the bronze medal in a personal best time of 7:08 closely followed by Booker T. Washington Juniors Walter Davis and Frank Sc had who place fourth and fifth respectively.
At the end of the day, senior Baruch Price rowed well to a time of 6:24 (a new club record) in the junior men’s varsity finishing the event in the silver medal position.
Other notable performances included freshman Grant Buchman (Holland Hall) who rowed to an impressive 5th place finish in the men’s junior high school freshman category in a time of 7:10.
Tulsa Rowing Club also fared well in the adult categories. The Men’s Open Lightweight category was won by Micah Hartwell in a time of 6:43. In the Men’s Masters 30 to 39 age group category Neil Bergenroth won the gold medal in a time of 6:44.5. In addition, Tulsa Juniors alum Emily Carstens (now captain of the SMU women’s crew team) placed first in the women’ s collegiate event in a time of 7:14.7.
“Today was a great day for Tulsa Rowing Club, we benefited from our hard work during the winter. We look to build on this solid team performance as we take to the water this spring,” said Head Coach Bergenroth. “The multitude of personal bests is a good indicator for future success this season.”
The club is holding a learn to row basic training session in two weeks from Feb 19 to 22 for 8th grade and high school athletes looking to try the sport for the first time. website at http://www.tulsarowing.org/juniors For more information