The Orcas Island Rowing Team recently traveled to Mill Bay, Canada to compete in the 39th Brentwood International Regatta.

Two of the nine line-ups, the Men’s B Novice Quad and the Women’s JV Double, advanced to the finals. The men’s team of coxswain Huxley Smart, stroke seat Yon Agnew, three seat Jake Zier, two seat Josh Bronn, and bow seat Rhys Thompson placed 5th out of 20 boats, with a time of 6:13.82.

“Going into the six-boat Final they had the slowest time of the six,” said Head Coach, Tina Brown, “but they took some good hard strokes in the Final and managed to improve their technique as well as their standings.”

The women’s boat with stroke seat Hannah North and bow seat Tika Thorson also placed 5th of 19 boats with a time of 6:25.98.

“Together they rowed in the same event last year and only placed 16th,” Brown said. “They took 34 seconds off their time from 2008.”

The rest of the results saw the rowers placing at or near the bottom of all races. The Men’s Varsity Quad with cox Grace Thompson, stroke Sam Parish, three seat Forrest Gropp, two seat Morgan Borman, bow Barrett North placed 10th out of 17 boats. The Men’s Varsity Double with stroke Parish and bow Barrett placed 14th out of 19 boats. The Men’s JV Double made up of stroke Forrest and bow Borman placed 16th out of 20 boats. The Men’s Varsity Single with Borman placed 16th out of 21 boats.

The Women’s Varsity Quad with cox Grace, stroke Hannah, three seat Samantha Tidwell, two seat Thorson, bow Rebecca Lucas placed 17th out of 18 boats. The Women’s Varsity Double comprised of stroke Tidwell and bow Jacqlynn Zier placed 20th out of 20 boats. The Women’s Varsity Single rower Tidwell placed 16th out of 17 boats.

The Men’s A Novice Quad with cox Huxley, stroke Robin Gropp, three seat Alex Waldron, two seat Cameron Smart and bow Max Blackadar placed 10th out of 11 boats. The Men’s Junior A Novice Eight with cox Huxley, eight seat Robin, seven seat Waldron, six seat Agnew, five seat Jake, four seat Cameron Schuh, three seat Bronn, two seat Rhys and bow Blackadar placed eighth out of 13 boats.

“Most of the Varsity teams are lightweights who had to row in heavyweight events, as Brentwood doesn’t offer many lightweight events,” Brown said. “When it comes to our Regional’s, I expect to be seeing a lot more of our boats in the finals.”

Overall, Orcas Island ranked 28 out of the 37 rowing teams from both the United States and Canada.

The team travels to Vancouver, WA for the Northwest Regional Championships on May 15 to 17. More information is available at orcasislandrowing.org.