Good evening Justice Rowing family,
Week Past
Last weekend our novices showed out with their best performance yet! First up, our novice boys pulled a fourth-place finish in their heat, missing finals by one placement against some top competition. However, in the grandstands and back at the boathouse, no one could deny that that was their best race all season. The boys moved together, stayed focused, and pushed hard through the line. Well done to all of the novice boys, both in and out of the lineup. Shortly following, our novice girls took third in a full heat of 6 boats. They dropped a massive amount of time off of their previous performances and also rowed with heart and determination. They too missed qualifying for finals by one placement, but again, the coaches couldn’t be more proud of their progress and efforts. Well rowed by all of the novice women!
Full results of VSRC Day 1 can be found here. Photos are available on the Justice Rowing Photo Gallery.
Week Forward
This week is the second week of VSRCs (States) where the varsity team will compete for medals and trophies. Final preparations are nearly complete as we gear up for a climactic end to the season. We had a strong cheering section at the grandstands last week, and we hope to hear you all out there again!
May 14: VSRC Day 2
| Event: | Lineup (Stern to Bow): coxswain* |
| Men’s Double (M-1-2x) | T. Wang, C. Brown Vasquez* |
| Women’s Junior Double (W-Jr-2x) | V. Peterson, G. Breed* |
| Men’s Quad (M-1-4x) | D. Coronado, N. Ward, K. Wilson, E. Sobol* |
| Men’s Junior Quad (M-Jr-4x) | P. Rice, L. Montfort, R. Bates, Z. Hardy* |
| Women’s Quad (W-1-4x) | S. Palacios, H. Ershadi, E. Buckhorn, S. Barrera* |
Please reference previous weeks’ emails if you have questions about when/how lineups are determined, and, as always, please reach out to your coaches if you have more questions.
Stotes and Nationals!
Here are a few quick reminders about this last month of the season and what to expect with competitions and practices.
Stotesbury Cup Regatta—May 19–21
Our rowers going to Stotes are:
MJr4x – Danny Coronado, Nathan Ward, Kyle Wilson, Ethan Sobol
WJr2x – Valeria Peterson, Grace Breed
W4x – Sofia Palacios, Hena Ershadi, Emma Buckhorn, Suliana Barrera.
Alternate: Luke Montfort
Those rowing at Stotesbury will miss school on the 19th and 20th. The team travels on Thursday the 19th and uses the afternoon to practice on the course in Philadelphia (which curves a little). Time trials and racing start on Friday the 20th with semi-finals and finals held on Saturday the 21st. I am aware that the travel on the 19th conflicts with the IB French exam. Rowers who are taking this exam can still meet the team in Philadelphia later in the day on the 19th; they’ll just miss an opportunity to row the course ahead of the race. If you are going to Stotes, please complete the necessary forms for parent permission and driver information sent to you separately. Return these forms to Coach Rob ASAP.
Nationals—May 27 and 28
The Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) Championship, or “Nationals,” will be held on 5/27 and 5/28 this year on the Cooper River in Camden NJ. Should we have a crew qualify for Nationals (detailed in last week’s email), they would follow a similar field trip/excused absence process for that weekend.
PLEASE REMEMBER: Even if your rower is finished with competitions after VSRCs, they should plan on continuing to come to practices as we start to transition towards technical work and training for next year. Some of the most productive practice sessions I ever had as a rower were when I knew I could focus entirely on experimenting and improving without stressing about competing.
Regatta Rower Logistics
Timing: On FRIDAY, coaches will let rowers know what time their race is and WHEN they should be at Sandy Run, usually 2 hours before the race to allow time for parking/drop off, warm-ups, boat adjustments, and race planning. All rowers (and those not competing but who want to watch) should be dropped off at Sandy Run. When you arrive tell the parking attendants that you are dropping off a rower and they will direct you to where you can go. Non-competing rowers are always welcome to cheer their teammates on! If you would like to stay at the regatta yourself, more info on parking is below.
Friday Night Pasta Dinners
Friday nights before each regatta, a team host serves pasta to the rowers. Please sign up to host here. Thanks to those who have already signed up to host. If we don’t have volunteers to host, the rowers won’t have a team dinner that night. An example menu is here. Plan for approximately 35 rowers. This is a rower’s only event—no parents. Drop off your rower Friday after practice and pick them up promptly at 9:00 so they can rest up before Saturday’s race!
This week’s dinner is hosted by Matt and Kelly Hardy, 2825 Meadow Lane, Falls Church, VA 22042, who deserve special thanks since this is their SECOND time hosting the team for a pasta dinner. Thanks Hardys!
Regatta Reminders
Important Regatta Reminders: There is no parking at Sandy Run Regional Park (unless you are a volunteer that day); you will need to park at South County High School (SC), 8501 Silverbrook Rd, Lorton, VA 22079, and take a shuttle ($10/round trip) to get to the regatta site. The ScCo Parking lot is about 15-20 minutes from Sandy Run. From the Sandy Run drop off it’s about a 15-20 minute walk down to the Grandstands where you can watch the race. NOTE: Spectators should plan to be at the SoCo parking lot at least 1 – 1 1/2 hours BEFORE the scheduled race time. Please plan for traffic, congestion, etc. which can cause delays. A concession stand and restrooms are available at the Grandstands. Regatta t-shirts ($20-25) will be available (contact Sandra Cortes Coronado to preorder, see email for instructions). For the most up-to-date information on Regattas/Sandy Run, follow @VASRAresults (on Twitter). Heatsheets are released for each regatta and may change as late as the day of; check the left-hand column on vasra.org homepage for a live link. Photos and slideshows are uploaded post-event at the Justice Rowing photo/video gallery.
UPDATE as of 3/31: Follow @VASRAStart to know when a race is “on the water” and which teams are in what lane. Information will be up-to-date including scratches and if teams do not start (or finish).
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From the Boosters: We’re down to the final weeks+ of rowing and there are lots of opportunities below where you can show your support for your rowers and the team.
May 15 — Sand Day at Lake Barcroft
Justice Rowing will be selling food (burgers, dogs, drinks, baked goods) at the Lake Barcroft Sand Day celebration. This is a new fundraiser for the club and promises to be a great day and we encourage all rowers to be part of it. Parents, we need your help with buying food, setting up, grilling and serving, and cleaning up. Everyone is asked to provide homemade baked goods for sale at the table. Please be sure to bag items for individual sale and provide a note if they include any allergens, such as nuts. Lake Barcroft Beach 4 (3533 Duff Drive). Set up 10:30-11; Sell food 11-1; Clean up 1-2. Sign up today.
Carpool for Practice Next Monday and Tuesday, May 16 and 17
Our contract with the Bus company has ended, and so we need to carpool for both Monday and Tuesday of next week. If you can provide this service for our rowers, please respond to this email with the number of seats you have and whether your trip is both ways or only down or back. Thank you!
May 22, 12:30-3:30 PM, Car Wash!
We had such a great success last week that we’re doing it again. Sign up today. Please spread the news to your neighborhood email groups, etc.
May 24 — &Pizza Fundraiser
Support Justice Rowing by eating at &Pizza and we’ll receive 50% of all proceeds from 11:00 AM to close that night. &Pizza is located at 6110 Arlington Blvd., Suite C, Seven Corners, VA 22044. Use CODE JHSRB at checkout. Flyer below.
Saturday, June 11, 12 Noon–2:00 PM — Annual Awards Potluck Picnic and Annual Booster Board Election
Join us to celebrate your rowers! This year’s annual awards picnic will be held again at the Sleepy Hollow Bath and Racquet Club (SHBR). In addition to rowers’ “paper plate” awards and Coaches’ awards, we will be honoring Coach Rob Walker in his final year with Justice Rowing. It’s also our annual Booster Board election (a list of Board nominees will be coming soon). Come out and show your support and appreciation for our rowers and coaches! Sign up today to make this a great event!
June Learn-to-Row Camp
In recent years, this short week-long mini-rowing camp has been a great recruiting event to introduce rising 9th graders (and some 8th graders!) to the sport of rowing and Justice Rowing. It’s run by our coaches and upper-class rowers and we need your support to pull it off. If you can help out by coordinating, providing snacks, or registration assistance, please send us an email. The dates are TBD in June but will be announced soon.
Thank you all for your support of our program and athletes!
Row Strong,
David Trissell
President
Justice High School Rowing Boosters
Coach Rob Walker (he/him)
Special Ed. and English Teacher
Justice High School Rowing Team Head Coach
www.justicerowing.org
riwalker@fcps.edu
Twitter: @CoachWalker91
