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WESTPORT, Conn. Saugatuck Rowing Club of Westport qualified seven boats for the U.S. Youth Nationals and won 10 medals Sunday at the Northeast Regional championships in Worcester, Mass.
Saugatuck won three gold medals, including the Boys Varsity 8+. The team also won three silver medals and four bronze medals.
The marquee victor for Saugatuck was its Boys Varsity 8+, which reached the national meet for the second straight year. Saugatuck won by about seven seconds in 6:14.84 with a crew that consisted of Greg Zales, Max Gibson, Jake Esse, Jake Petterson, Lee Glicklich, Dave Kircher, Chris Babinec, Duncan Campbell and Marco Grant.
Louisa Freeman and Jo Gurman won the Varsity 2x and also earned a trip to nationals, which will be held June 9-10 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The final gold medalist for Saugatuck was the Girls Junior Varsity 4+ with Julia Onorato, Sammie Kurtz, Amra Sabovic, Madison Lavoie and Joanna Moley.
In the Boys Varsity 4x, Saugatuck took second with a crew that consisted of Jeff Monahan, John Morrison, Cameron Yates and Lachlan Lancaster.
Two other crews won silvers. The Girls Novice 4+ consisted of Julia Onorato, Sammie Kurtz, Amra Sabovic, Madison Lavoie and Joanna Moley. The Girls Junior Varsity 8+ consisted of Emily Clayton, Alex Savoca, Olivia Prehodka, Sammie Kurz, Amra Sabovic, Victoria Thorogood, Clara Dannemann, Kendall Vogt and Erika Zadravec. Novice and Junior Varsity crews do not advance to the national competition.
Four crews won bronze medals and also punched tickets to nationals. Christina Johnson and Natalie Clark finished third in the Girls Varsity 2x, and Connor Cashel took third in the Girls Lightweight 2x. The Girls Varsity 2- of Annie Eick and Allie Diamond also finished third. The Girls Lightweight 8+ crew took third with a unit that included Sam Powers, Marisa Hom, Felicity Cain, Blythe Lewis, Genevieve Esse, Kaitlyn Mcann, Katie Grotto, Reni Forer and Alex Manning.
"I'm really proud of all our juniors,'' Saugatuck coach Sharon Kriz said. "We set our goals early on and everyone stayed focused and worked hard all year It's great to see that work pay off with such great racing results. I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do at nationals."
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