San Diego – 2007 was the best Crew Classic yet for the Lions Rowing Club. The program entered four eights at the San Diego regatta, and brought home the gold in the premier event of the day, the Women's Club Championship. In the Women's Masters A, B and C the Lions placed third, fourth and fourth, respectively. The weekend performance showcased the depth and strength of the Los Angeles based rowing club.
The Lions opened up the weekend's events by racing Saturday afternoon in the heat of the Club Championship. In their first experience with a staggered start, the 30-year-average Lions crew left the line 28 counts after Los Gatos Rowing Club, even with River City, and one count ahead of Austin RC. The Lions, coxed by Emina Ong, steadily pushed through the competition to capture the lead by the half-way point of the race. Although the team was happy about their execution of the staggered start, the Sunday morning final would bring much tougher competition. "! was very pleased with the team's ability to stay confident in the staggered-start situation." said LionsRC Coach Erinn McMahan, "It's a huge mental challenge to race well for 2000 meters when you are starting from behind". The Lions crossed the line 16 seconds ahead of second-place Austin RC.
For their Sunday morning final, the Lions were up against some very fast competition from Lake Washington and Watercat Rowing Association. "These teams have been racing very close to us for two seasons now," said LionsRC Coach (and 3-seat) Sara-Mai Conway, "so we were very anxious to see how we would do against them in a 2000 meter sprint." The crew from Watercat left the start line 13 counts ahead of the Lions, who departed even with Lake Washington. Although Lake Washington pulled to a one-seat lead early in the race, the Lions steadily inched through them, pulling even at approximately the 500 meter mark, and then continuing to push towards Watercat, who still had a slight lead by 1400 meters in. In what was very consistent racing, the Lions continued their push to separate themselves from Watercat in the final 400 meters and crossed the line in a time of 7:14.4, almost 6 seconds ahead of second-place Watercat. Lake Washington finished a close third.
The Lions Club Championship crew consisted of coxswain Emina Ong, stroke Shelle Orem, 7-Andria Shook, 6-Ivelina Boteva, 5- Natalie Beglau, 4-Kathy Hein, 3-Sara-Mai Conway, 2-Ashley Peterson and bow Larissa Zavarzina. The Lions bring home the Thalia Kelly Considine Cup, whose namesake is listed as ėdaughter, mother and grandmother of competitive rowers.î The junior rowers from ZLAC rowing club were on hand to present the medals, as well as several members of the Considine family, spanning three generations of rowers.
In the Masters events, the Lions boated entries in three categories, A, B and C. This was the largest group yet to travel to San Diego for the Lions. The A race took off first with a line-up of coxswain Emina Ong, stroke Megan Biging, 7-Sara-Mai Conway, 6-Natalie Beglau, 5-Andria Shook, 4-Sarah Pomeroy, 3-Sarah Lombardo, 2-Denise Cusano and bow Ann Marie Cody. The Lions battled to the very end from Lane 6, fighting for the top three with strong crews from Lake Washington and Austin RC. In the final half of the race, however, Austin pulled to a 4 second lead for the win, with Lake Washington close behind. The Lions took third.
In the Masters B event, cox Ilana Ostrin lead a line-up of stroke Shelle Orem, 7-Judy Schaper, 6-Samia Dillsi, 5-Larissa Zavarzina, 4-Jessica Wortman, 3-Margie Cate, 2-Erika Anderson and bow Adrienne Lao. The Lions rowed well, placing fourth to a very strong crew from Marin.
In the Masters C, cox Liz Greenberger lead stroke Ondine Jarl, 7-Kersten Valentine-Rothenberg, 6-Karin Conroy, 5-Dianne Jones, 4-Kathryn Riccio, 3-Susan Carle, 2-Laurie Groehler, and bow Patricia Gushikuma. The 43-year-average crew placed fourth, the best finish ever for Lions in the C event. For several of the rowers, it was their first competition in a 6-lane event. LionsRC coach Ivelina Boteva was very pleased with the group's performance. "We did our best to keep it fun and important at the same time," she said.
Sunday afternoon, the team wrapped up the weekend with a barbeque and celebration at the course. 2007 proved to be the best year yet for the Lions at Crew Classic, with four entries all performing at the top end of the field. The Lions look forward to racing in San Diego next year with even greater expectations.
|
