The MRC Juniors had a successful day of racing on Lake Mendota on Sunday. With stormy conditions projected, it turned out to be warm and sunny. All crews battled against a quartering headwind in dual races against Camp Randall. Congrats to all athletes on a very competitive day.
Before elaborating on some of the results, we would like to thank all parents for remaining flexible with the schedule and location. We really appreciate your patience throughout planning and Sunday's racing. We also want to take a moment to recognize the parent volunteers who were fantastic this weekend. Your help is greatly appreciated by our staff!
Varsity 4:
The day began with the Varsity 4's. The Boy's 4 had a good start handling the conditions well. Milwaukee was behind early, but they handled the windy conditions well. Camp Randall was able to take the race by open water. The Girl's 4 had a similar start, clean and handling the conditions well. Camp Randall was able to edge in front early in the race. With MRC battling all the way down the course, Camp Randall won by a small margin of open water at the finish.
Novice 8:
The Boy's Novice 8 had a strong start pushing ahead from the beginning of the race. They continued to add to their lead as they handled the conditions and ended up winning the race handily. The Girl's Novice 8 had a very close race all the way down the course. With a constant battle back and forth throughout, they looked strong in their push to the finish and fell just short by about 3/4 of a length.
Second Varsity 8:
The Boy's 2nd Varsity 8 had a strong start, but lost a little momentum when they were pushed off the course slightly by the other crews. The boys had a good early season piece showing some good base speed. They were down about a length at half way and two lengths at the finish. The Girl's 2nd Varsity 8 showed great strength from the first stroke of the race. They were up by open water in the first 500m and continued to stretch their margin throughout the race. The girls pushed to the finish line about forty-five seconds ahead of their opponent.
Varsity 8:
The Varsity 8's began the second flight of racing. The Boys Varsity 8 looked sharp on their start and were able to push to a bow to stern lead in the first 500m. The boys pushed their lead through the middle of the race and held off a strong Camp Randall sprint to win by 3/4 of a length. The Girls Varsity 8 had a similar start to the boys, pushing to a length of open water ahead by the 1000m mark. They held this margin through to the sprint where they pushed for slightly more winning by about eight seconds.
Second Novice 8:
The final event of the day proved to be exciting from the 2nd Novice 8's. The Boy's 2nd Novice 8 had tight competition off the start and through the first 500m. At the half way mark they were down by two or three seats but held strong. With solid coxing and a good final push they were able to edge ahead to the finish line. The Girls 2nd Novice 8 had a good start and edged slightly ahead early in the race. The girls were able to keep a consistent rhythm and continued to open their margin throughout the race. They finished the race winning by a little more than 10 seconds to end the day.
For reference, here are the lineups from Sundays racing.
The next race for the MRC Juniors is the Greater Chicago Junior Rowing Championships on Saturday, May 2. More info coming soon.