the team saw six of its boats finish in the top 10 and five race their way into the top-eight grand finals
Ridgewood Crew sophomore Marelia Leou and freshman Gracie Demarcado won a bronze medal in the Womens Youth Inclusive 2x event at the 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Sarasota, Florida – Ridgewood Crew closed out a record-breaking spring rowing season by setting even more program-best standards at the four-day 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida. While dealing with consistently sweltering heat as well as unpredictable thunderstorms that wreaked havoc on the racing schedule, the team saw six of its boats finish in the top 10 and five race their way into the top-eight grand finals. And the team also brought home its second bronze medal in two years, this time placing third in the Womens Youth Inclusive 2x race.
Held every June on the 2,000-meter course at Nathan Benderson Park, the USRowing Youth National event brings together the best scholastic and club rowers in the country, all of whom have to qualify by placing in the top four in their event at a USRowing regional regatta. This year’s national championship featured nearly 3,500 athletes from 235 teams, and Ridgewood sent 23 rowers across 10 events.
All events at Youth Nationals start with a 1,900-meter time trial on Thursday, where the top 16 fastest boats qualify for semifinals on Friday. Only the top four teams from the two semifinals punch their ticket to the grand, or A, final on Sunday. Those boats that don’t make the A final compete in B, C, or D finals on Saturday or Sunday.
“Youth Nationals always brings together the most elite young rowers in the country and, year after year, more and more of the boats get faster and the racing more intense,” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez. “We build toward this regatta starting back in the winter, racing against progressively larger and faster competition. Our results this past week show that this team is among the best high school programs in the nation with both tremendous depth and breadth, sending single, double, and quad boats — in both the youth and under-17 categories — to the A finals.”
Another first for the team came in the Womens Youth Inclusive 2x event, where Ridgewood brought home its first Youth National medal in a para racing event. Sophomore Marelia Leou, who has a PR3 rowing classification, paired up with freshman Gracie Demercado to compete against a small field in this still growing event, placing third (9:22.04). Separate, gender-specific inclusive races have only been offered at Youth Nationals since 2024.
Freshman Jaya Suri, who competed at this regatta one year ago in the Womens Under 17 double race, had the team’s next-highest finish in 2026. Racing in the Under 17 1x event this time, she overcame a 10th place finish in Thursday’s time trials to qualify for Sunday with a strong second-place finish in the semifinal. In Sunday’s A final, the 15-year-old hung with the main pack through the first 1,000 meters before several boats slowly pulled ahead, and she ultimately came in fifth in the nation (8:42.42).
Ridgewood’s rower in the mens side of the Under 17 1x event was sophomore Kai Bissie, who was one of only two rowers on the team to compete in multiple events at this year’s Youth Nationals. Notably, Bissie also did double duty at last year’s Youth Nationals, rowing in both a double and quad.
Bissie was one of many victims of the chaotic weather this year, having had his Friday afternoon singles semifinal rescheduled for early Saturday morning due to persistent thunderstorms. The delay worked in his favor, though, as it allowed him to avoid two semifinals races on Friday, as he was also rowing in the bow seat for one of Ridgewood’s two Mens Youth 2V 4x boats.
Bissie ultimately raced his way into the U17 1x A final with a hard-fought fourth place semifinal performance. On Sunday, facing a strong final field, he finished seventh overall in the nation (8:14.79).
His Mens 2V 4x boat also qualified for the semis, as he and fellow sophomores David Pasternak and George Rivkin, along with junior Brendan Finucane, came in 11th in their time trial. But their boat fell a few seconds short of qualifying in the semifinal, sending them to the B final on Sunday, where they came in fourth, good enough for 12th in the country (6:46.77).
Ridgewood’s other boat in the Mens Youth 2V 4x event fell just short of qualifying for the A final. Seniors Matt Moomjy, Michael Shkop, Andrii Onizhuk, and Uhmjoo Han ended up fifth in their semifinal, a mere two-plus seconds behind fourth place. For Moomjy and Han, this was their third trip to Youth Nationals in four years, and Shkop’s second appearance in a row.
In Sunday’s B final, this group of seniors finished their Ridgewood Crew youth racing careers with a resounding victory, beating the field by more than a boat length, ranking them ninth in the nation (6:37.50).
Two other Ridgewood seniors completed their high school rowing swan song on a high note this past week at Youth Nationals. Luciano Saladino and James Ryan, who went undefeated in lightweight doubles events this spring and took home a scholastic national championship last month, rowed up a class by competing in the openweight Mens Youth 2x event. This was Saladino’s third straight appearance at Youth Nationals and the second for Ryan, who plans to row in college at the University of Delaware.
After finishing seventh in the time trial and fourth in their semifinal, this Ridgewood duo faced off against seven other heavyweight crews in Sunday’s grand final. Ultimately, Saladino and Ryan capped off their Ridgewood Crew tenure by coming in eighth in the country (7:05.24).
Three other doubles boats from Ridgewood competed in Florida as well.
Freshman Lucia Krauza, making her Youth Nationals debut, paired up with sophomore Zurie Yela to race in the Womens U17 2x event. Yela qualified for Youth Nationals in 2025 in this event, and this year she and Krauza rowed their way into the B finals, where the pair came in fourth, ranking them 12th in the nation (8:22.05).
Also competing in the Womens U17 2x category was the all-freshmen boat of Courtney Spence and Gracie Demercado. Adding to her third place performance in the Womens Youth Inclusive 2x event, Demercado also came in 24th nationally in this event, as she and Spence finished eighth in the C final (8:59.48).
Freshmen Graham Glidden and Alex Evers made their first trip to Youth Nationals as well. Racing in the Mens U17 2x event, this pair ultimately finished sixth in the C final, good for 22nd place overall (7:38.72).
Ridgewood’s last A finalist performance came in the Mens Youth 4x boat, crewed by senior Will Nasr, junior Tristan Riedel, and sophomores Graham and Wesley Richardson. The team’s most seasoned crew boasted of seven prior Youth National appearances — three for Nasr, two each for Riedel and Graham Richardson — before this year’s championship. Wesley Richardson, a novice who only started rowing last fall, was making his Youth Nationals debut.
After a ninth place finish in the time trial, this varsity quad rallied for an impressive performance in their semifinal, placing third and punching their ticket for the grand final. Notably, this was Nasr’s third straight year racing in the Youth Nationals A final and, after a stellar rowing career with Ridgewood, he will be taking his talents to the Northeastern University rowing team next fall.
On Sunday, the quad got off to a strong start and powered down the course, finishing eighth in the final and in the country (6:25.46).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew at the 2025 USRowing Youth National Championships (https://usrowing.regatta.time-team.com/usrowing-youth-national/2026).
In the program’s 20-plus years, Ridgewood Crew has competed and excelled in both national and international competitions and its athletes have attracted interest from top rowing colleges and universities around the country. Ridgewood Crew offers several ways for you to experience our mission: join the team, volunteer, or donate. Student athlete programs begin with Learn-To-Row for middle schoolers. For more information contact Ridgewood Crew at http://www.ridgewoodcrew.com.
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