Vashon crew shows its strength in early fall test on Lake Union

The Tail of the Lake regatta in Seattle featured 44 events over a five-hour period starting early Sunday morning in near-mirror conditions and finishing on a lake made choppy by a frenzy of tour boats, float plane takeoffs and landings, squads of kayakers and even an oar-powered Viking ship.

By Pat Call • October 7, 2014 4:17 pm
Jordan Petram Photo The novice junior men’s four and the junior women’s pair head to the finish line at this weekend’srace on Lake Union.
Jordan Petram Photo The novice junior men’s four and the junior women’s pair head to the finish line at this weekend’srace on Lake Union.

The Tail of the Lake regatta in Seattle featured 44 events over a five-hour period starting early Sunday morning in near-mirror conditions and finishing on a lake made choppy by a frenzy of tour boats, float plane takeoffs and landings, squads of kayakers and even an oar-powered Viking ship.

The 4-kilometer head race followed a counterclockwise path around the lake. Vashon’s crew entered 16 events, medaling in 13 and placing first in six.

Overall, junior rowers took home five first-place finishes. The women’s eight (Riley Lynch, Virginia Miller, Maddie McEachern, Rhea Enzian, Emily Milbrath, Cap Turner, Shannon Lipe, Katrina Heffernan and coxswain Ally Clevenger) women’s four (Milbrath, Miller, McEachern, Lipe and coxswain Callie Andrews)  and the men’s quad (Patrick Hanson , Fletcher Call, Liam McConnell and Forrest Miller) each won their varsity events. The four and the quad dominated their fields, winning by about a minute each. The women’s novice quad (Emma Greenlee, Rhiannon Simmonds, Kate Lande, Mabel Moses and coxswain Haley Smith) and the men’s novice four (Cole Puckett, Seth Rosen,  Connor van Egmond, Cooper Py and coxswain Aidan Teachout) also notched their first ever wins in rowing competition.

In addition to the first-place finishes, the junior boats also took home two second place (men’s novice 8+ and women’s quad) and two third place (men’s double and women’s pair) finishes.

The masters’ team also put in a strong performance with a gold, silver and two bronze finishes. The men’s quad (Bob Stewart , John Singer, Fred Sayer and Gary Schoch) took home the first-place medal. The second-place finish went to the men’s double, and the men’s four and the women’s quad rounded out the medal tally with third-place finishes.

Coach Richard Parr said that he was pleased with the total team effort.

“Everyone from varsity to novice to master rowers demonstrated their fitness for this early fall test,” he said. “For Vashon to especially row well in the eight events at this regatta shows how the program is continuing to mature.”

— Pat Call is the father of a junior rower.