by MARTIN TAYLOR
Special to the Sounder
The Orcas Island Rowing Team traveled to Seattle for its second regatta of the season to compete in the 47th Annual Green Lake Spring Rowing Regatta. The small team showed strength against the large field of 28 crews.
The race of the day was definitely the Open Men’s Double consisting of Sam Parish and Barrett North. Not only did they place first in their heat with a time of 3:45.80 over the 1000 meter course, but they also had the fastest time out of both heats placing them 1st out of 16 crews. Parish and North, who both fall into the junior lightweight division (under the age of 18 or still in high school and under 155 pounds) were up against not only their own “junior lightweight” rowing contemporaries but also “junior heavyweight” rowers as well as adults of all ages.
The rest of the OIRA team also had some impressive performances. The Junior Women’s Coxed Quad (coxswain Grace Thompson, stroke Hannah North, 3-seat Samantha Tidwell, 2-seat Tika Thorson, bow Rebecca Lucas) placed third out of six with a time of 4:05.53.
The Junior Men’s Coxed Quad (coxswain Thompson, stroke Parish, 3-seat Morgan Borman, 2-seat Forrest Gropp, bow Barrett North) placed third in their heat with a time of 3:23.84, placing them fifth overall out of 13 boats.
In the Open Women’s Double event OIRA had two entries. In the “A” boat were Tidwell and Jacqlynn Zier who placed third with a time of 4:17.46 and sixth overall out of 12 boats. The “B” boat consisted of Lucas and Thorson, who had a rough battle with the buoys and placed seventh in their heat with a time of 4:43.70.
After some confusion at the start the Junior Men’s Novice Eight (coxswain Huxley Smart, stroke Robin Gropp, 7-seat Alex Waldron, 6-seat Cameron Smart, 5-seat Jake Zier, 4-seat Cameron Schuh, 3-seat Josh Bronn, 2-seat Rhys Thompson, bow Max Blackadar) placed fourth in their heat with a time of 2:10.67 on a shortened course.
The rowing team will be traveling to Lake Stevens for the Northwest Sculling Regatta on April 19.
Visit orcasislandrowing.org for more information on the team’s season. A story on their first regatta of the season in the online at: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/sanjuans/isj/sports/41776887.html.
