Burton Beach Rowing Club’s (BBRC) Davis Kelly bested 131 other entries to win the gold medal and the coveted “Hammer” trophy in the Under-19 division at the CRASH-B National Rowing Championships this past weekend. Kelly’s time of 6:16.6 was just over a second ahead of the second-place finisher Ethan Dunn.

More than 1,000 competitors from 250-plus clubs raced in the event on Sunday, Feb. 13, at the 2022 U.S. Rowing Indoor National Championships/C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships. Competitors jumped on an erg to compete virtually from around the country. BBRC rowers joined the competition from Camp Burton.

“One of the great things about the BBRC is that it provides me and all of our athletes with the tools to continue in the sport beyond high school if we want to,” said Kelly, a member of last year’s U.S. Junior National Team. “It was nice to kick off the spring season with a win and I’m looking forwarding to working towards my other goals for later this spring and summer.”

BBRC’s youngest male rower, 14-year old Zack Merrigan, placed third in the Under-15 division and produced a personal best of 6:58.7. His time was just 0.4 seconds off the second-place finisher, Marin Rowing’s Domenic Puccinelli. Due to the event being run simultaneously all over the country, Merrigan had to race at 6:15 a.m., which meant a very early start on Sunday morning.

“It was a fun event,” said Merrigan. “It was a great chance for me to compete against such a large field from around the country before we hit the water for the spring racing season.

BBRC coach Richard Parr said of Kelly and Merrigan, “They just train so well. They’re really honest and determined workers every single day, week in and week out. Zack has a fantastic role model in Davis, and he certainly is following that example.”

BBRC’s Dylan Carmody also competed in the Under-19 division.