Race stories - select stories within a range of dates
Head of the Estuary, JLAC - November 12, 2011
After a couple of months of training and anticipation, the BHS Crew Team competed in their first home course race of the school year, the Head of the Estuary, held on Saturday, November 12th. While it was the second race for BHS crew this year, this head race (racing against the clock) offered our novice rowers their first opportunity to compete.
Butterflies in their bellies were replaced with very respectable results! Their results included a 2nd place for the Women’s Novice 8 (out of 13 boats) and a 4th place for the Men’s Novice 8 (out of 12 boats). The BHS team now numbers 120 rowers (up almost 50% from last year) and many of them are new (novice) rowers. So the future sure is bright!Congrats to the novices, but more great news came from three of our varsity boats who placed FIRST in their races! These winners included the Women’s Lightweight 8, the Men’s Lightweight 8 and the Men’s Varsity 4 boats.
Wow! Three first places out of the 12 races we competed in! The day’s results were posted in a congratulatory email from the coaches and these are repeated below. As the coaches said, it looks like we'll have a promising spring race season! The results can also be found here: http://www.oaklandstrokes.org/news/
BHS Crew Team Results:
- Men's Novice 8A- 4th place
- Men's Novice 8B- 7th place
- Men's Novice 8C- 9th place
- Women's Novice 8A- 2nd place
- Women's Novice 8B- 10th place
- Women's Novice 8C- 13th place
- Men's Varsity 4A- 1st place
- Men's Varsity 4B- 4th place
- Women's Lightweight 8- 1st place
- Men's Lightweight 8- 1st place
- Women's Varsity 8A- 2nd place
- Women's Varsity 8B- 5th place
Don’t forget our next big event, the Ergathon on December 3rd!
More pictures (courtesy of John Godin and Mike Gill)
Parents watching for boats to come into view!
BHS Men's 8 approaching finish line with SF skyline in the background.
BHS Men's 8 approaching the finish line.
BHS Crew Team poses for 2011-2012 team picture.
The traditional "cox toss".
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Head of the Port, Sacramento – October 9, 2011
On Sunday, October 9, the Berkeley High School Crew Team started their 2011-2012 season, participating in the “Head of the Port” event in Sacramento. The start time was delayed by a bit of fog, but that didn’t mean it was disappointing. We’ll get to that in a moment!
This race was unique in a couple of ways. For our rowers, normal season races consist of mass starts, where the first boat across the line is the winner. But in a “head” race (often held in the Fall), the boats race against the clock. Boats in each category rowed to the start line and did a rolling start, crossing the line at 10 second intervals. At the end of the 5K course, the time for each boat was recorded.
The other unique thing about this race was that it was not limited to Juniors. In fact, we were able to cheer on boats with BHS parents, coaches, former coaches and collegiate level rowers (including recent BHS grads!) who were out there participating as well. It was a great day for a reunion as well!
So, what about the Berkeley High team, you ask??? After an hour delay waiting for the “cotton candy” fog to dissipate (as one person put it), racing commenced. Limited to varsity rowers, BHS entered 3 races on the day, two boats in the Mens Jr. 8+ race, three boats in the Womens Jr. 8+ race, and one boat in the Mens Jr. 4+ boat.
It was our first race of the year and results were mixed. Recall that these are 5K length races, so the kids are at 95% for a lot longer than the standard 2K races. (Of course, the coaches expect them to be on the verge of going anaerobic for the last sprint!!). The first race was a bit disappointing with the men bringing up the rear with 10th and 12th places out of 13 boats. In our next race, the women’s 8+ showed great promise for the year with 3rd, 6th and 11th places in their field of 14 boats! Finally, the men’s 4+ placed very respectfully with 3rd out of 6 boats. It’s great to be back in competition!
The next race for Berkeley High is set for November 12th at JLAC (the Fall Regatta in the Estuary). Stay tuned to the website for more details. With a record number of novices on the team this year, this will give them a chance to perform for the first time. We’re looking forward to many BHS entries on the race leader board!
Complete results from the “Head of the Port” race are posted online…..
http://www.row2k.com/results/resultspage.cfm?UID=2190098&cat=6
(Photo credits - John Grodin, Mike Gill)
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BHS takes bronze at 2011 Nationals
The Berkeley High Crew men's lightweight 4+ boat won the bronze medal at the 2011 US Rowing Youth National Championships on Sunday, June 12. In a strong performance, battling for 2nd place with New Canaan (CT) over the final 1000 meters, Berkeley High School rowers medalled at Nationals for the first time since 2007.
Finish line, BHS boat in foreground, wearing neon caps
The BHS men finished in a time of 6:46.90, just .28 seconds behind New Canaan. Sammamish (Redmond, WA) won gold with a time of 6:44:63, after pulling out early and leading the entire way, with New Canaan and Berkeley nipping at their heels at the end.
(left) l-r, Meador, Pengra, Remler, Bell, cox Lukanuski; (right) At the catch.
The final race capped a weekend of four races for Berkeley High Crew. The boat showed early on that it belonged in Tennessee, turning in the fourth best time in Friday's heats. The next morning, the BHS rowers finished first in their heat and fastest among all the boats in the repechages. (The winners of each of Friday's heats won a bye in the Repechage round.) In its semi-final race Saturday afternoon, BHS finished second. Its time on Sunday was a full fifteen seconds faster than its semi-final time. Coach Chris Dadd noted, "The guys got stronger everyday and built on their experience. The team executed our strategy, and we changed our strategy each race. It was a great group. They were focused and still had a lot of fun."
Congratulations to rowers Lucas Bell (sophomore), Daniel Remler (senior), Ian Pengra (junior), Kevin Meador (junior) and cox Hannah Lukanuski (senior). Also, to coaches Chris Dadd and Gulliver Scott.
Results: USRowing.org (pdf download) - Look for race 13FA
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2011 USRowing Youth Nationals - Saturday Update
Tentative Sunday schedule:
(Times are Eastern Daylight Time)
A-Finals at 12:39pm
Heat sheets and results
posted at USRowing.org.
Sunday preview: Finals
Finals #13FA Men's Ltwt Youth 4+ A-Final
Sunday 12:39PM EDT (9:39 AM in California.)
Maria Kiernik sends this table (pdf, 32KB download) listing the boats in the final and their previous times this weekend.
Saturday's semi-final:
Berkeley High Crew takes second place Now, it's ON TO THE FINALS.
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Saturday's repechage: FIRST PLACE TO BERKELEY HIGH CREW!!!
Berkeley wins its rep by a full boat length. On to the semifinals this afternoon.
Jim Meador reports:
Our kids were wearing those green caps. ... They were neck and neck for 2nd-3rd place, a full boat length back from the lead. But in the final third of the race they pulled ahead, winning the heat by 2.93 seconds. Their finish time was more than two seconds faster than any other boat in any of the 3 Rep heats, so hopefully they are in good shape for the semis....
Semis are at 6pm EDT this evening (3pm PDT). Top three in each heat go to tomorrow's finals (called the A-Finals). Bottom three in each heat go to tomorrow's B- (or Petite-) Finals. Video coverage of the semis and finals will be streamed live by USRowing.
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Saturday preview:
Rep Heat #13R3 Men's Ltwt Youth 4+ Repechage 3
Saturday 11:09AM EDT (8:09 AM in California.)
Top 3 Places in this heat advance to the Semi-Finals. Berkeley has the middle lane due to the fact that they had the fastest qualifying time. (They had the 4th best time of this morning's heats, and the first 3 are automatically advanced to the finals.)
>The boat has launched. We're heard a report of minor problems with the cox-box. Don't know if that was fixed. Race time is about 10 minutes away.
Go Jackets!!!!!!!
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Friday: first reports - "They got 2nd or 3rd."
Jim Meador adds: "Second place in the heat today!!!!!"
Official time: 07:09.71. Three seconds off New Canaan, the first place finisher in their heat. Fourth fastest time among the men's lightweight 4's on this first day of racing.
Jeff Bell describes the scene:
Overall a good day. The boat would have loved to get the win. And their showing today definitely showed they are in the fight. They are eager, hungry and focused for more. Chris and Gulliver are doing a great job keeping them focused and driven.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Bell
BHS Crew Lightweight 4+ launching for its Friday heat
Nice. That means racing tomorrow – about 8am, our time – in the repechages, trying to qualify for the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon. Three of the semi-finalists have now been set -- the winners of each heat today. Tomorrow, the next nine semi-finalists will be determined; these boats will vie to make the A-Finals (top six) and B-Finals (7-12) on Sunday. The remaining six boats will qualify for Sunday's C-Finals.
Results: USRowing.org (pdf download) - look for race 13C
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BHS Crew back to Nationals
Berkeley Crew has a long, proud history as the rare public school competing in crew against the best boats in the west. From time to time, BHS Crew sends a boat to challenge the best in the nation. This weekend, for the second straight year, Berkeley's Lightweight 4+ men's boat (four rowers plus a coxswain) will be doing just that in Oak Ridge, Tennessee at the USRowing Youth National Championships.
The BHS lightweight 4 has been slotted into the third heat on Friday, scheduled to go at 2:56pm EDT. (Heats and times are subject to change.) Heat sheets, links to video streams of the finals, and other information can found on the USRowing web site.
Striking gold in Oak Ridge
BHS and crew go way back – the 1905 BHS Yearbook shows pictures of women rowers. The modern BHS Crew was established as a men's team in 1967 and a women's team in 1976. (The two merged in 2004.) The men were undefeated at the varsity level from Fall 1969 - Spring 1971.
In 1980, the women's crew brought home the first of many medals of this modern era of rowing at BHS. The Varsity 8 came back from the Nationals – held that year, like this, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee – with gold!
Download a full list of BHS Crew medal winners (pdf, 83KB)
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The 2011 CJs - May 7-8 - Lake Natoma leads to Tennessee!
The Berkeley High crew season is fairly lengthy when compared to other high school sports. The kids begin training in September as soon as school starts and then compete from mid-winter through late spring. It seems like a long season, but after experiencing a race like the CJs (the Southwest Regional Junior Championships) at Lake Natoma on May 7-8, most would argue that it’s all worth it! Competing with well over 20 teams, CJs is the largest event that the Jackets compete in each year. And it is usually the last race of the season. But not always.
This year, racing ran from about 8am to 6pm both Saturday and Sunday. Of course, that kind of activity requires energy for both racers and spectators. So being from Berkeley, the kids’ parents made sure they had plenty of healthy food to munch on all weekend!
Mini "Hamburger" Cookies Same Bowl - 10 minutes later!
Being the last race of the year, it is often filled with hopes and expectations, as well as frustration and finality. For many of the seniors, it is the last time they will compete in crew. With so many top teams, BHS had plenty of moments of frustration, as they were outgunned by some of the big “club” teams. But the fact is, the Jackets were often right there in the mix until the end. And in the case of our Men’s Lightweight 4+ boat, they qualified to go to Nationals in June!
Rowers from the Men's Lightweight 4+ (Lucas, Ian, Daniel and Kevin)
The day was competed with qualifying heats and by coming in 2nd out of 6 in their heat, they were able to race in event’s final later that day. Then, by finishing in the top 3 in this CJs final, this Lightweight 4+ garnered a spot to go to the US Rowing Youth National Championships (June 10-12) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee! GO JACKETS!
More on CJs to follow.
Results, from US Rowing: here.
Photos: Eric Carlson's SmugMug gallery
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510 Sprints - April 23, 2011
Hum-Boldt! Hum-Boldt!
This year's 510 Sprints – Berkeley High Crew's annual celebration of rowing on the Alameda Estuary – was but a race away from completion when the loudest shout of the morning went out for the men's double from up north. With their small but vocal squad of teammates yelling for them to push harder, the Humboldt Bay Rowing Association duo put it all on the line and came out victorious, edging their competition from the Stanford Rowing Club by a mere second. That, and the beauty of a boat full of athletes moving in sync as their shell flies across the surface of the water, is what the sport of crew is all about!
Race morning broke calm and beautiful in the East Bay, the air warm and the water glassy as rowers from Deep Water Rowing Association, Humboldt, Palo Alto Rowing Club, Serra High School, Stanford and the Stockton Rowing Club joined Berkeley High School crew on the estuary. The welcome weather was met by a regatta full of good racing. All but one of the squads came away with at least one 1st place finish, with Stanford and BHS Crew eventually dominating the results board. With equal notes of grace, power and good spirit, the day rang out the end of Berkeley Crew's regular spring season of racing.
Berkeley's winning boats included:
- Men's lightweight double (Daniel Remler and Jason Bowers)
- Men's freshman 8+ (Wesley Eccles, Jack Gerrard, Nico Atherton, Levi Godin, Whitman Hall, Robert Klabbatz, Sam Remler, Lewis Campbell and David Wild, cox)
- Women's varsity 4+ (Ruby Moore-Bloom, Signe Henderson, Cassidy Villeneuve, Ava Miller-Lewis and Juliet Grodzins, cox )
- Women's lightweight 4+ B-boat (Paola Alonso, Delia Werner Bills, Canine Masri, Caroline Pearson and Lillian Farnkopf, cox)
- Men's lightweight 8+ (Daniel, Lucas Bell, Kevin Meador, Jason, Ian Pengra, Brendan Gill, John Clara, Nick Bielak and Hannah Lukanuski, cox)
- Women's varsity 8+ (Ruby, Elle Holland, Cassidy, Signe, Anna-Linnea Rodegard, Ava, Eden Teller, Kiara Grey and Juliet, cox)
- Women's lightweight 8+ (Gina Gonzalez-Roundey, Paisley Sato, Rosie Romick, Geneva DeBiasi, Paola, Caroline, Delia, Canine and Lillian, cox).
Congratulations to all.
Now, the team prepares for the post-season: one shot for glory at the Southwest Regional Junior Championships (the "CJs") over Mother's Day weekend. The best crews from what has become, arguably, the strongest region of junior rowing in the country, will vie for first-, second- and third-place honors and an invitation to the Junior National championships at Oak Ridge, Tennessee in June. Berkeley, being a small team, will field most of its athletes. The action will be intense, and the winning times faster than those on the estuary this weekend. With luck, those ten short, sharp days of preparation will lead to a few pleasant surprises by BHS Crew.
Go Jackets!
More photos, results to come...
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Pacific Small Boats Regatta - April 9, 2011
The BHS Crew Team competed against 3 other teams at Lake Merced on Saturday, April 9th, including Pacific Rowing, the Oakland Strokes and the Upper Natoma Rowing Club. After a tough week of wind-impacted practices, they fought their way through most races, with the Women's Novice 8 and the Women's Varsity 4 boats showing the best on the day.
Members of the Women's Novice 8 were happy with their 2nd place finish out of 5 boats.
The week before the race - spring break - was a tough one for training. With some teammates away for college visits and vacations, the Estuary exhibiting very windy conditions, and a little case of "rower malaise", build up to the regatta was not typical. Add to that some indecision on the part of the organizers (let's race Saturday....no Sunday....no Saturday!) and it wasn't the best formula for a stellar day on the water.
Throughout the morning, the team hit the water with 16 boats in 11 races. There were a few 2nd and 3rd places, but unfortunately, no winners. Lindsey, the women's coach, was still pleased that progress had been made and it looked like the women could be on track for a competitive weekend at CJs. A competitor's coach had even mentioned the obvious improvement in the women's team over recent weeks. Chris, the men's coach, said his rowers had the talent, but needed a bit more commitment to take it to the next level and win. But he also recognized the difficulty of the day, given that they had little chance to get on the water to train.
As long as the team builds on this day for our last two regattas, we'll finish the season strong. All rowing can build experience, right? Right! Be there for the 510 Sprints at JLAC on Saturday, April 23rd and then the year's finale at CJs (Lake Natoma) on May 7th and 8th. We'll be counting on you, Jackets!
(Note: Just days after this regatta, the former Harvard rowers, the Winklevoss brothers, had their legal case against Facebook tossed out of court by a judge. Maybe our losses weren't so bad.)
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2011 Scholastic Invitational Regatta – "Wet" A Day!
The skies were dark, but the mood bright as the Berkeley High crew team cleaned up at the Scholastic Invitational crew regatta on Saturday, March 19th. As reported on these pages, the prior week’s race was a tough one for BHS. Although challenged by the wind, rain and cooler-than-normal temps at this JLAC regatta, the Jackets performed quite well indeed!
A check of the leader board showed Berkeley High boats garnered seven wins. Not a bad take, given the nasty weather! The first place boats included the Men’s Freshman 8+, the Women's Varsity 4+, the Men’s Lightweight 4+, the Women's Lightweight 4+, the Men’s Novice 8+, the Men’s Lightweight 8+, and topping off the day was a win by the Women’s Novice 8+. The team garnered even more second place finishes (six), a success by any measure! Congrats to the whole team.
More from the finish line: Many crew fans took advantage of a couple of finish line tents to keep out of the rainy weather. And Svante, our MC for the day, provided a music mix that kept people dancing (and a bit warmer) on the impromptu dance floor under the tents! It wasn’t just the music of course, but the success of the team that helped us deal with the day’s chilly rain!
Teams participating included Brophy and Xavier College Preparatory High Schools from Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Ignatius and Serra High Schools from San Francisco and San Mateo, respectively. Thanks to all for attending, especially to the Phoenix teams for making the long trip to “sunny” Northern California.
Our next race, the Pacific Small Boats Regatta, will be held on April 9 at Lake Merced. More info will be posted on this team webpage for the race.
Results, courtesy of Row2K.com.
Families: If you snapped some photos of the regatta, please email them to sendphotos@berkeleyhighcrew.org. Thanks!
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Battle of the Bay - March 13
Sunday's Battle of the Bay pitted the Berkeley High School Yellow Jackets against Marin Rowing Association, Oakland Strokes and Saint Ignatius High School. The results board was dominated by Marin and Oakland, who had an almost iron-clad lock on first and second place throughout the day. SI, typically a team, like Berkeley, geared towards success later in the season, fielded a number of very fast boats. Berkeley High's rowers, too, while finishing no higher than third in any event, showed their strength. For the Jackets, though, the regatta provided a bold marker of where the team must get in the next eight weeks.
Bright spots on the day for Berkeley Crew included the Men's Freshman A (A boat) 8+, the Women's Varsity 8+, the Women's Light 8+, the Women's Novice Quad (4x+) and the Men's Lightweight 4+. The Freshman A 8 recovered from a start in which another boat nearly collided with them to finish a strong third, just seconds off the pace of the 2nd-place Strokes. In the Women's Varsity 8 event, all four boats finished within 10.6 seconds of each other.
In the tightest race of the day – a two-boat showdown of men's open weight 4+'s – Marin edged the Strokes by just .4 of a second. Those rowers provided the excitement and beauty that will become more regular as the teams approach championships in May.
The day's racing also brought a nice reunion with former Berkeley Crew coach Morgan Fenner, who's now Assistant Women's Varsity coach for Marin. Morgan's 3V8 boat did well. Plus, she had the chance to check up on the progress that her former rowers are making with the BHS Crew varsity. Sweet stuff, all around!
Results, thanks to: Row2k.com (Note: mistakenly dated March 12)
