ARC Juniors Win 8 State Championship Titles on April 24-25, 2010
The Juniors finished the regular season with a very strong showing at the High School State Championships held in Austin, TX. The first title came in the novice girls 2x event. Having rowed only four months Tessa Matus (McCallum) and Forrest Cruse (TMI- San Antonio) were able to sprint their way to first place. Also medaling Lexi Serrao (Regents) and Danille Brown (Westlake) finished in a close third place.
Next up, JV girls 4x event with ARC finishing 1st and 2nd. The foursome of Katie Gilbert (Regents), Lucy Ellis (Westlake), Nicole Brandt (Lake Travis), and Brett Mele (Westlake) struggled through the season but came together for the best race of the year and a State title. They were closely followed by teammates Ellen Denum (Austin High), Mariel Dempster (LBJ), Emily Glickman (McCallum), and Lauren Azuela (Gorzycki) who finished a strong second.
In the varsity boys race Jake Martens (Bowie) and Forrest Compton (Anderson) defended their State title from 2009 with another victory and an un-defeated season in the junior 2x race. Teammates Andrew Martens (Bowie) and Philip Johnson (Bowie) finished 4th and show a promising future.
Rowers in their first year of competition race against other first year rowers and ARC won the novice girls 4x event by over 4 seconds. Becca Pittman (Westlake), Hannah Glaw (Westlake), Lexi Serao (Regents), and Danielle Brown (Westlake) rowed their perfect race. They were joined on the medal stand by teammates Lauren Britt (Bowie), Brittany David (Westlake), Tessa Matus (McCallum), Forrest Cruse (TMI- San Antonio) who finished 3rd.
The JV girls continued their dominance by sweeping the JV girls 2x event. The event was won by Katie Gilbert and Mariel Dempster. Emily Glickman and Susan Bartoletti (St. Andrews) finished 2nd and Nicole Brandt and Lauren Azuela took 3rd.
Sunday races included all of the junior sweep events. Sweep involves only one oar compared to sculling that uses two oars. The lightweights continue to go undefeated winning the girls lightweight 4+ with Avery Ashwill (Austin High) as coxswain, Ellen Denum, Lucy Ellis, Brett Mele and Nikki Ulug (LBJ).
The novice girls 8+ was made exciting by equipment problems early in the race and only 7 people rowing. They fixed the problem and got all rowers back in the race and worked hard to catch-up and pass the other teams for the victory. Coxswain Avery Ashwill, Lauren Britt, Becca Pittman, Hannah Glaw, Brittany David, Allie Martenez (Westlake), Meghan GoMillion (Westlake), Danielle Brown, Lexi Serrao continue un-defeated this spring.
Final race of the day was the varsity girls 8+ who won the race by over 6 seconds. Coxswain Avery Ashwill, Ellen Denum, Lucy Ellis, Sara Hyten (Westlake), Stephanie Bolke (Regents), Caroline Allan (Westlake), Nicole Brandt, Mariel Dempster, Nikki Ulug looked strong and had a great sprint to win the State title.
The most exciting race came in the novice boys 8+. The boys only recently started to row sweep and with only a few practices in the boat came up with a 2nd place finish. Coxswain Brian Peck (Canyon Ridge), Jonathan Stegall (Westwood), Adam Harvey (Westlake), Philip Johnson (Bowie), Chris Duke (Westlake), Walter Curtis (Westlake), Nick Osella (St. Andrews), Leo Koerner (Vista Ridge), David Weinstein- Perez (McCallum) raced in their first sweep race and came up big.
In addition to the State titles ARC won many silver and bronze medals for an overall medal count of 22 and the overall team high points trophy. Congratulations ARC juniors, parents, and supporters for a great season and an awesome juniors program. Next-up the juniors travel to Oklahoma City for the Central Regional Championships on May 8-9.
