Openweights take two races at 2009 USRowing Club National Championships
July 23, 2009 | Women's Rowing
The Wisconsin USRowing Development Camp, made up of mostly Wisconsin openweight rowers, won the intermediate eight and the senior four without coxswain at the recently completed 2009 USRowing Club National Championships, held in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The event ran July 15-19.
In what was described as one of the closest races of the finals on Sunday, Wisconsin USRowing Development Camp, including coxswain Molly Evjen, Vicki Opitz, Vanessa Kleiss, Rachel Buchholtz, Grace Latz, Hayley Miller (Iowa rower), Lisa Godhardt, Kirsten Morelli and Kate Mansfield, captured the intermediate eight title by just 0.55 seconds over Community Rowing, Inc. Wisconsin USRowing Development Camp finished the 2000 meter course in 6:43.40, just edging Community Rowing, Inc.'s time of 6:43.95. The remaining crews reaching the finals included New York Athletic Club, US-CanAmMex-A and B entries and South Jersey Rowing Club.
In the senior four without coxswain, Opitz, Latz, Buchholtz and Kleis combined forces to win the title. The crew clocked a 7:12.80 to win the title. A second boat from the same Wisconsin USRowing Development Camp placed second in 7:17.18. That crew included Leinss, Morelli, Godhardt and Miller.
The race involved multiple collisions, with the two Wisconsin USRowing boats avoiding the worst of the interferences.
Other Wisconsin USRowing entries involved a second and third place result in the senior pair with Opitz and Latz in one crew and Buchholtz and Kleiss, respectively rowing. Taking second in the intermediate pair event were Godhardt and Morelli, while Buchholtz and Kliess placed third.
