Justice Rowing Community:
Week Behind
We had a terrific showing at the Ryz Obuchowicz Regatta this past weekend. With a total of seven boats entered in four events, we took first in two events and second in the other two events.
Opening the day, our men’s Senior Double (Kyle Wilson & Zach Hardy) took second behind a fast Great Bridge crew.
Our women’s Senior Double (Hannah Rosen & Grace Breed) won their race, dropping over 30 seconds for their fastest time this season.
In the men’s combined quad, our first Senior Quad (Danny Coronado-Cortez, Luke Montfort, Nathan Ward, & Ethan Sobol) won, with our second Senior Quad (Sam Schneider, Tucker Trissell, David Claudillo, & Ronin Bates) taking third place and the third Senior Quad (Stephen Blackador, Andres Juarez, Milo O’Connor, and Josiah Nowlin) taking 5th place.
In the women’s combined quad, our first Junior Quad (Anna Lyons, Brooke Ehmann-Jones, Gretchen Hardy, Sabrina Ehmann-Jones) finished a very close second to Alexandria City HS, and our second Junior Quad (Kami Albright, Indigo Brookes-Weiss, Pilar McKitrick, Silvia Smith, and Ashley Forrest) finished 4th.
Thanks to VASRA’s Friday schedule rearrangement, we were able to get all our races in before the storms came in and canceled every race after our last one.
[Slideshow at Justice Rowing Gallery. Press the play arrow to watch the videos as they do not auto-play.]
Week Ahead
This week we prepare for our last “inclusive” regatta, the Al Urquia regatta on 4/29. This will be the largest regatta of the season so far, and the schedule is less structured as it takes more effort to fit all the heats and finals into our time slots. After this week, we will be preparing for States, where we are limited to one boat per event. Since there are no novice sculling events in VASRA, we will be entering Jr and Sr. boats where appropriate. This makes this week all that much more important to narrow down our lineups in preparation for States. We will continue to row all rowers next week, even if they are not going to be in a boat for States, but we will separate out the States’ boats and non-States boats for practice. The non-States rowers will get more work in smaller boats, like our doubles and singles, to help work on their technique and give them more tools for the rest of their rowing career.
Coach Nate
From the Boosters
Car wash news! Thanks to Melanie and David Brookes-Weiss for organizing Sunday’s car wash where we made over $2000! It was such a success that our next carwash is scheduled for June 11, and possibly another sometime in May. Stay tuned for more information, and thanks to everyone who showed up and helped out!
Friday Night Pasta Dinner: 7:00 PM (after rowers return from practice)-9 PM. This week’s past dinner is being hosted by the Hess’s – Thank you! Please show up directly after practice and pick up rowers promptly by 9:00 to prepare for a big day of racing! The address is in the email dated 4/24/2023.
While Coaches intend to designate the boats for entry into the regatta this week, the names of rowers in the boats will not be announced for another two weeks, approximately the week of May 1. In the meantime, we’re working with the hotel to continue holding additional rooms available for parents until rowers’ names are officially announced.
The Stotesbury Cup Regatta, also known as “Stotes,” is the largest high school regatta in the world held annually in Philadelphia PA on the historic Schuylkill River’s “Boathouse Row.” This is an invitational regatta where the coaches will determine which crews have earned an entry – not all rowers will participate. Coaches consider many factors when making entries: attendance, consistency in lineup, performance at VSRCs and at regattas throughout the season, etc. Coaches will make tentative decisions this week about which boats will be going to Stotes, May 18-20. Once we have that number, we will send out an email later this week/weekend offering a limited number of rooms available for parents who would like to stay where the team will be, the Sheraton Suites, Philadelphia Airport, 4101 B Island Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19153, at a rate of $159/night. The team has used this hotel in the past because of its location, accessibility, and overall value. Please let us know by COB MONDAY, APRIL 24 if you would like to stay in one of these rooms or we will release any extra rooms back to the hotel. Costs for rowers going will be approximately $150 for the two nights and most meals.
Regatta Food Table: We provide food for our rowers on Saturdays, and many sign-up slots remain open. Sign up for any/all of our regattas in one place. Don’t worry about getting it down to Sandy Run — we can coordinate with early volunteers to get it down there for you.
Regatta Schedules: Plan on learning about when your rower will compete on or about Thursday/Friday once the race schedules are set by VASRA (this usually happens late Thursday/early Friday). Rowers should be at Sandy Run NO LATER THAN TWO HOURS before their race. Rowers may be dropped off at Sandy Run, but there is no parking at Sandy Run for spectators. Rowers driving themselves may park free at Sandy Run but should carpool with their teammates if possible (optimizes parking and minimizes the chances of rowers being late). Rowers must be driving the vehicle.
Spectator Parking: ALL spectators must park off-site and take a shuttle bus to Sandy Run. The shuttle bus costs $15 round trip. Once the shuttle bus drops you off it is about another 15-20 walk to the finish line. You may also pay a separate $5 each way for a shuttle from the drop-off point to the Finish Line area.
Parking for the next two Occoquan regattas (Rzy Obuchowicz and Al Urquia) will be at the 123 commuter lot at 1325 Old Bridge Rd., Woodbridge. Please see the Regatta Parking Document on the vasra.org website for more information.
VASRA Volunteer Slots: Several VASRA volunteer slots remain open. Please sign up. For more information email parent volunteers Sandra or Machelle. Contact information is in today’s email dated 4/18/2023.
Justice Athletics Concession Stand Help: Another way to support Justice Rowing is to volunteer at the concession stand at Justice High School during one of many different sporting events. Justice High School Athletic Boosters run concessions for the home games of many of its teams. Money earned from concessions goes to support all JHS athletic teams, including teams who are not able to have concessions at their home games. Check out the full schedule and sign up. For each volunteer slot fulfilled, Justice Rowing receives $10.
Donations: We are always accepting donations and offering simple ways (grocery cards, etc.) you can contribute financially to Justice Rowing. See the many ways you can help!
Year End Potluck Picnic and Awards Event: June 3, 11:00 AM -1:00 PM, Sleepy Hollow Bath and Racquet Club, 3516 Sleepy Hollow Rd., Falls Church. Sign up!
—
Row Strong,
David Trissell
President
Justice High School Rowing Boosters
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