Three Rivers Junior Rowing quad earns spot at youth nationals

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 25, 2018 | 11:00 PM

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Four new members of the Three Rivers Junior Rowing team on Washington's Landing came together for a win recently at the Midwest Junior Rowing Championship Regatta in Bethel, Ohio.

Shady Side Academy senior Michael DeGregorio, Mt. Lebanon senior Preston Heyse, Fox Chapel junior Daniel Andrud and Winchester Thurston senior David Scheatzle came out on top in the boys first varsity 4x final.

The quad covered the 2,000-meter course in 6 minutes, 32.386 seconds, close to five seconds ahead of second-place Indianapolis, and qualified for the USRowing Youth National Championships on June 8-10 in Gold River, Calif.

There were 16 entries.

“We had all come from different clubs and joined Three Rivers recently,” Andrud said. “We had only practiced the lineup a few times because of the poor weather conditions the weeks before, but our training and aerobic fitness, combined with our technical ability, really paid off.”

Andrud said he and his teammates gave everything they had and felt good about their prospects after the semifinals.

“About (a quarter) of the way through the race, we realized we were in front and were keeping pace with the lead boat, which really motivated us to push through the pain,” he said. “Our boat and our competitor were dead even with 600 meters left.

“We decided to make a move and sprint earlier and faster than our competition, allowing us to pull out in front.”

Andrud hopes to make the “A” final at nationals. Twenty boats are entered.

“I expect we will have a good chance of placing well,” DeGregorio said. “Our practice time has been limited.

“We should be able to shave off many more seconds with rigorous training, supplemented with an ambitious and competitive mindset.”

Karen Kadilak is a freelance writer.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Mt. lebanon, Shady Side Academy, Winchester Thurston