Fox Chapel crew coach Stephanie Meinert wants to see how things develop. There’s no pressure to write a lineup in permanent marker. As new generations come into the program, there are always adjustments to be made.
“We are atypical,” Meinert said. “Just because an athlete is a freshman, they may or may not be in the upper boats. We don’t discount them. The new athletes can see what the veteran and varsity athletes are doing. I hope they see those kinds of openings and step up and fill in those roles.”
Nora Kelley was the only returning member of Fox Chapel’s women’s varsity 4x boat. She was joined by Marlow Schmidt, Sophia Tai and Morgan VanKirk to win the Midwest Scholastic Regatta on May 9-10 in Milford, Mich.
Meinert said that while Kelley was the only member of that team who was in the same role, her teammates had been sharpening their skills in other areas.
“All three of them have been on the team the last few years,” Meinert said. “Each of them had things to bring to the boat. They had that competitive desire to push things to the limit.”
The women’s 4x was Fox Chapel’s top finishing boat at regions. The men’s varsity 4x — led by Gavin Nguyen, Simon Goode, Keitaro Inada and Ian Wellman — placed second. The women’s junior 4x — with Eliana Wellman, Emily Shaw, Julia Olivieri and Alessandra Sirio — placed third.
Those three boats — in addition to the men’s lightweight 2x (Chase Hahl and Mark Ong) — also competed at the Scholastic Rowing Association Nationals in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The women’s junior 4x finished fifth in the finals, the men’s varsity 4x placed fifth, while the women’s varsity 4x and men’s lightweight 2x finished seventh in their event heats.
Meinert said she was happy with how the season went overall.
“They had a resilient year,” Meinert said. “We had a lot of injuries and illnesses that kept athletes out throughout the year. There were some athletes who weren’t happy they weren’t back to 100% by regions, but they wanted to be happy with where they wound up.”
Fox Chapel crew has 38 high school athletes and 38 middle school athletes. The team held an event in early June at Allegheny RiverTail Park in Aspinwall to raise awareness for the team.
Information on the team can be found at www.fccrew.org.
Meinert said the team is always looking for more athletes and encouraged everyone who is interested to give it a try. She believes with 12 seniors graduating from this year’s team, there will be a lot of opportunities for people to fill in those roles next season.
“The new start is motivation to stay healthy, pay attention to their bodies and try to do their best next season,” Meinert said.