Tulsa Youth Rowing Association represented our city well this past weekend, with two silver medal performances and several other strong performances.
Halee McMahan (Booker T. Washington) and Emory Oakes (Lincoln Christian) performed well on Friday’s time trial to earn a place in the final. They then stormed down the course in the final to a silver medal in the women’s youth doubles. This is the third time McMahan has performed well enough for a bid to nationals and the second time for Oakes.
“I’m glad I was able to do well at my last Centrals! This will be my third year going to Nationals, but this time in two single and double races. I’m excited for the challenge. I’m happy I was able to make the most of my final and fifth year with TYRA and represent my team in Sarasota!” said McMahan
“This season has been pretty successful as a team. We all put in a lot of hard work to get where we are, and I think almost everyone would say that their effort paid off! I’m super excited to be going to Nationals along with Halee this year in our double! It will be a great experience again and a great way to wrap up my high school career rowing for TYRA,” said Lincoln Christian Junior Emory Oakes.
McMahan and Oakes rowed in the women’s youth single event, qualifying for the A final in the time trial in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. In the final, both athletes performed well. McMahan finished 2nd place (only a second behind the gold medal position), with Oakes finishing 5th out of a field of seventeen athletes
To learn more about Oakes and McMahan, please visit our YouTube channel to learn more about their incredible journey while training at Tulsa Youth Rowing Association.
Another notable performance was Andrew Johns in the men’s youth single. John’s placed fourth in the time trial on Saturday morning and fourth in the A final that evening. This marks an excellent result for Johns and demonstrates John’s potential to race at the national level next year.
“I’m proud of how my race went and how much progress I’ve made this year! I’m very excited for the next couple seasons and another shot at Nationals,” said Johns of his efforts.
Youth Nationals occurs in Sarasota, FL, from June 6th to 9th. The top youth rowers in the country will compete in many events ranging from singles to eight to battle for many national titles.
For those student-athletes interested in signing up to try rowing for themselves. TYRA is running summer camps in June. For more information and registration for camps, please visit our registration portal.
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