Norwalk River Rowing Association’s Youth Team had quite a day in Philadelphia on Saturday, with 34 athletes competing in 26 events at the 2015 Philadelphia Youth Regatta.
Known informally as Philly Youth, the regatta was the final NRRA competition for six members of the team – Patrick Lyon, Will Pacella, Kevin Conover, George Mgaloblishvili, Amelia Ornato and Gillian Castro.
Graduated Seniors Gillian Castro and Amelia Ornato in their Double getting ready for their race
And no surprise, all six performed admirably.
George won a silver medal in the Boys J18 Single. Amelia and Gillian finished third in their Girls J18 Double flight and Amelia finished third in her flight of the Girls J18 Single.
And in the final race of the regatta for Norwalk River, Patrick, Will, Kevin and George were on the team that won a silver in the 1000-meter Eight Dash. Patrick, captain of the boys team for the 2014-15 season, served coxswain. With Brian Helms, Greg Bauerfeld, Ross Hamilton, Chris Martensson and Kaare Andersen part of the crew as well, the boat finished just 0.49 seconds out of first place.
Congratulations to Will, Patrick, Kevin, George, Amelia and Gillian for a great NRRA career! We will miss you all!
The boys team, with Coaches Yuri and Irinia, celebrates after Philly Youth. It was the last NRRA regatta for Kevin Conniver, Will Pacella, George Mgaloblishvili and Patrick Lyon, all of whom will be off to college soon. Photo by Chris Helms.
In addition to George’s silver in the Boys J18 single and the silver in the Eight Dash, Greg Bauerfeld and Brian Helms won a silver in the Boys Pair (Kaare and Chris, who switched seats in their boat after winning a silver at Club Nationals earlier in the month, missed a bronze by 0.14 seconds).
For the girls team, Jessica Magnoli won a silver medal in the Girls Novice Single (open to athletes who started racing after January 1).
There were plenty of outstanding performances that did not result in a medal too.
In addition to Gillian and Amelia’s third place in the J18 Double, Jessica and her boatmate Jacqueline Yeranossian, and Natalie Partlow and Savannah Driscoll, each finished fourth in their flights.
Victoria Markow finished second in her flight of the J16 single, and Gillian Castro and Amanda Lawrence each finished fifth in their J18 Single flights.
The boys team showed that while the current varsity is strong, the future is also bright.
Matt Rauccio and Ryan Purdy finished first in their flight of the Boys J16 Double. Kevin Lenihan, Zach Johnston and Ben Hufnagel raced in the J16 Single, with Kevin and Zach finishing second in their flights.
Kevin, Zach and Ben teamed with Brad Spiewak to finish second in their flight of the J16 Quad; Michael Cunningham, Richard Dineen, Jeffrey DeRosa and Bo Pollio finished fifth.
The boys J16 Four of Matt Rauccio, Ethan Reichgut, James Trentos, and Ryan Purdy, with coxswain Michael Cunningham, finished fourth.
Jay Kimeon and Laurance Redpath finished sixth in the J16 Double.
Busiest of all were the J18 boys. Eleven Norwalk River boys raced in 13 events, with two rowers – Ross Hamilton and Kaare Andersen – competing in four events each.
Two boats raced in the J18 Four. Dane Crameri, Ross Hamilton, Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti and Richard Dineen, with Sam Shulman as coxswain, finished third in their flight. Brian Helms, Greg Bauerfeld, Chris Martensson and Kaare Andersen, with Patrick Lyon as cox, finished second in their flight.
Dane and Ross finished fourth in the J18 Double, as did Kevin Conover and Will Pacella.
In the J18 Single, Kaare Andersen finished second in the same flight in which George Mgaloblishvili captured the gold. Ross Hamilton finished fourth in his flight.The boys team, with Coaches Yuri and Irina, celebrates after Philly Youth. It was the last NRRA regatta for Kevin Conover, Will Pacella, George Mgaloblishvili and Patrick Lyon, all of whom will be off to college soon. Photo by Chris Helms.
