QV rowers excel at Head of the Ohio

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 16, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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Quaker Valley athletes keep producing for the Three Rivers Junior Rowing team, but with more oars.

Six Quakers earned gold medals on four boats in the Head of the Ohio Regatta from Oct. 7-8 hosted by the Three Rivers Rowing Association on Washington's Landing.

Two of the victories came in sculling events.

“(Our) new coach, Matt Grau, came from a boathouse that focused primarily on sculling,” senior Tessa Kimmy said. “I was mostly prepared to do my best in a quad, but our lineup had not practiced together before the race.

“I was extremely surprised our boat came in first.”

Senior Tori Trovato was part of the boat, which finished the 2.6-mile course on the Allegheny River in 16 minutes, 33.9 seconds.

“I think, with our new coaching staff and new team captains, we made a strong impression,” Trovato said.

Sophomore Ben Farnan and seniors Drew Allen and Andrew Novak occupied three of the seats in the men's youth quad (15:37.9).

“I was surprised we did so well,” Allen said. “Going into the race, the competition looked really tough.

“The other boys and I didn't think we had a great shot at winning. It didn't hit me we had won until we were almost back to the channel.”

Novak said he and his boat mates were very happy.

Farnan also picked up a gold medal in a pair (18:04.1).

“Ben has spent a lot of time working on refining his technique, including a lot of time over the summer,” Grau said. “He is absolutely one of the leaders on the guys side.”

Senior Claire Grubb was in the women's youth pair (20:34.1).

Grau admired the Quakers achievements.

“The school has a long history of rowing success, and the current athletes are continuing that trend,” he said.

Karen Kadilak is a freelance writer.

Tags: Quaker Valley