Crew: Pioneer Rowing Club wins Frogtown Regatta

By Cathy Mizgerd

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Pioneer Rowing Club of Ann Arbor claimed the No. 1 spot in the 34th annual Frogtown Regatta on the Maumee River in Toledo. It was the club’s first regatta of the fall season, with newly elected captains in place for the men’s and women’s teams.

The 2019–20 women’s team captains are Lisa Brinkel, Ella Cunningham, and Molly Maloy. The men’s team captains are Natalie Uytingco, Ashish  Venumuddula, and Josh Weiner.

The Pioneer team was one of 27 rowing clubs to compete in the regatta, hosted by the Toledo Rowing Club. The clubs hailed from across four Midwestern states: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Other clubs at the regatta from the Ann Arbor area included Huron and Saline.

The day featured 290 entries—including 23 Pioneer boats—in 57 events, at the level of both masters and high school. While the course was a 5-kilometer head race until 2016, it was shortened to a 2,500-meter head race in 2017 and extended back out to a 3,000-meter head race in 2018. The course was 3,000 meters again this year.

The first race began at 8:40 a.m. Despite some variability throughout the day, weather conditions were mild overall, with a temperature of 66 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:00 a.m. The morning climate was damp, with 94 percent humidity and a thin veil of silver-grey clouds across the lightening sky. The sun came out around 12:25 p.m., and by 2:15 p.m., a few sprinkles of rain briefly emerged. By 3:30 p.m., the temperature reached 75 degrees Fahrenheit but felt more like 80. Storm clouds soon began to show in the distance, but the weather held for the competition, which concluded after 4:30 p.m.

Pioneer earned 18 medals overall, including 13 gold (up from eight in 2018), four silver, and one bronze.

All five of Pioneer’s varsity-level eight-seat boats took gold, including two women’s and three men’s.

“I think that speaks to a huge amount of depth in the program at the moment,” said Pioneer High School Head Rowing Coach Rich Griffith. “With the novices winning, as well, it only points to more of the same for the future.”

The fastest Pioneer boat on the course was the Men’s First Varsity 8+ with a time of 9:52.5.

GOLD

Women’s Second Varsity 4+ with a time of 12:53.6: Lillian Davidson-Walshe, MK Coolican, Hope Hesseltine, Eugenia Del Gaudio with Presley Koepp as coxswain.

Women’s Third Varsity 4+ with a time of 12:48.9: Emma Bassett, Tina Ai, Jasmine Bose Partridge, Radina Dinov with Grace Thomas as coxswain.

Men’s Open 8+ with a time of 10:21.0: Jacob Sendra, Evan Guzek, Stanley Ye, Rob Duke, Joey Simon, Miles Klapthor, Daniel Ko, Stephen Flynn with Anna Kaganov as coxswain.

Women’s Open Novice 8+ with a time of 12:53.6: Aurelia Schaedig, Halle Rochman, Marina Lancaster, Emily Jiao, Raquel Burns, Shannon Armstrong, Abi Clay, Sarah Mitchell with Allison Miller as coxswain.

Men’s First Varsity 4+ with a time of 10:12.6: Hank Murdock, Cooper Hite, Josh Weiner, Finley Gordon with Natalie Uytingco as coxswain.

Men’s Second Varsity 4+ with a time of 10:39.7: Erik Anderson, Ashish  Venumuddula, Sam Kwok, Noah Jackson with Adi Bapat as coxswain.

Men’s Third Varsity 4+ with a time of 11:11.2: Jack Bajcz, Gabe Raux, Jacob Sendra, John Schenk with Charlie Herz as coxswain.

Men’s Open Novice 8+ with a time of 11:24.8: Brendan Kracht, Lucas Guevara, Rome McCoy, Mahyar Forouzannia, Soren Newman-Taylor, Christian Ramamoorthy, Joe Clynes, Will MacQueen with Anna Kaganov as coxswain.

Women’s First Varsity 8+ with a time of 11:34.7: Presley Koepp, Ella Cunningham, Molly Maloy, Laura Akey, Adele Fortun, MK Coolican, Lillian Davidson-Walshe, Ariel Mobius with Lisa Brinkel as coxswain.

Women’s Second Varsity 8+ with a time of 12:14.8: Alyssa Sun, Tina Ai, Hope Hesseltine, Eugenia Del Gaudio, Grace Kennel, Erica Burns, Emma Bassett, Jasmine Bose Partridge with Talia Zakalik as coxswain.

Men’s First Varsity 8+ with a time of 9:52.5: Hank Murdock, Erik Anderson, Josh Weiner, Ashish Venumuddula, Cooper Hite, Noah Jackson, Sam Kwok, Finley Gordon with Natalie Uytingco as coxswain.

Men’s Second Varsity 8+ with a time of 10:27.7: Jack Bajcz, John Schenk, Gabe Raux, Grayson Hobrecht, Luke Fisher, Joey Simon, Luke Hudgins, James McKeown with Adi Bapat as coxswain.

Men’s Third Varsity 8+ with a time of 10:57.3: Erik Hanson, Charlie Clynes, Habib Shakour, Joel Martinez, Daniel Martinez, Owen Rozek, Miles Klapthor, Kousei Itoh with Charlie Herz as coxswain.

SILVER

Men’s Lightweight 8+ with a time of 10:59.3: Luke Hudgins, James McKeown, Luke Fisher, Grayson Hobrecht, Erik Hanson, Charlie Clynes, Daniel Ko, Stephen Flynn with Adi Bapat as coxswain.

Women’s Third Varsity 4+ with a time of 13:16.7: Abby Stephan, Aichata Sanogo, Ella Folkdahl, Shuyi Xu with Alyssa Sun as coxswain.

Women’s Open 8+ with a time of 11:15.0: Abby Stephan, Radina Dinov, Molly Maloy, Ella Cunningham, Grace Kennel, Aichata Sanogo, Ella Folkdahl, Shuyi Xu with Grace Thomas as coxswain.

Women’s Lightweight 4+ with a time of 12:48.1: Presley Koepp, Erica Burns, Alyssa Sun, Ariel Mobius with Talia Zakalik as coxswain.

BRONZE

Men’s Lightweight 4+ with a time of 13:08.9: Rob Duke, Daniel Ko, Habib Shakour, Kousei Itoh with Anna Kaganov as coxswain.

MAIN PHOTO: Women’s 1V8+ earned gold (Photo by Tina Brinkel)