Ridgewood Crew medal winners from the Mens U17 2x, Mens U17 1x, and Mens Youth 2x races pose at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Youth Championships in West Windsor, New Jersey (Photo Credit: Maggie Dwyer)
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
West Windsor NJ, at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Youth Championships this past weekend on Mercer Lake, the Ridgewood Crew high school team brought home a gold, three silvers, and a bronze medal, while qualifying eight rowers in five boats for the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, next month.
More than 500 athletes from 65 clubs competed at the two-day event along a 2,000-meter course. On Saturday, rowers competed in time trials and semi-finals, racing to make the top six or seven positions eligible for the finals on Sunday. The Mid-Atlantic is one of 12 regional meets around the country where rowers can qualify for the national championships. Only the top four boats in select races at Sunday’s finals received automatic bids.
In 2023, Ridgewood Crew sent five boats to nationals, three of which were crewed by four graduating seniors. The composition of this year’s Florida-bound high school team includes a freshman, four sophomores, a junior, and two seniors.
“Our performance at the Mid-Atlantics showcases the remarkable depth and tenacity of our team. Today, our rowers demonstrated that age is just a number when it comes to competitive spirit and determination.” said Ridgewood Crew Head Coach Boris Roque-Alvarez.
Heading to Sarasota in their Senior Year! Ridgewood Crew Twins Anais and Elsa Friedrich (Photo Credit: Jae Han)
Demonstrating the strength of Ridgewood Crew’s youth movement is the tandem of freshman Tristan Riedel and sophomore Sam Scharfenberg. The pair finished first in every race this spring sprint season coming into the Mid-Atlantic meet, and they kept their streak alive on Sunday, pulling away in the final 100 meters to win gold in the Under-17 2x event (7:36.90).
Ridgewood Crew’s more veteran athletes also rose to the occasion. Senior twin sisters Anais and Elsa Friedrich, who normally race as lightweights, fought valiantly against much taller and stronger competitors to punch their ticket to nationals, eking out a fourth-place finish by less than a second (8:43.43).
In the Mens Youth 2x race, sophomore Will Nasr and junior Lucas Evers mounted a late surge past several boats to take home the silver (7:27.75). Nasr is returning to nationals for the second straight year. Last year, he qualified for a trip to Florida as part of an all-freshman Mens Under-17 4x boat that also included Scharfenberg.
Sophomore Luciano Saladino claimed bronze in the Mens Under-17 1x race (8:07.08), while fellow 10th-grader Thelma Flowers also qualified for nationals in the singles races, with a fourth-place finish in the Womens Under-17 1x event (9:44.34).
Ridgewood claimed two more medals at the Mid-Atlantic meet in Sunday’s second varsity finals races, most of which are ineligible for nationals.
Junior Julia Smith and sophomore Maya Ashwin rowed to a silver medal in the Womens 2V 2x race (9:22.70), while the all-sophomore boat of James Ryan and Daniel Hept also took second, in the Mens 2V doubles event (8:00.96).
Full times and results for Ridgewood Crew for the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Youth Championships (https://regatta.time-team.nl/usrowing-midatlantic-youth/2024/results/events.php).
In the program’s 20-year history, Ridgewood Crew rowers have 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.
Wow so cool