In only its third season, Port Rowing has grown from an exciting start up, to a Long Island powerhouse and state champion, to a top national contender.
"The entire team represented the community well at the elite level of racing. It was only three years ago these kids saw what a racing shell was for the first time," said Steve Panzik, in a press release.
Panzik said the growth and performance of the team has been amazing but it would not have been possible without the support of the community and parents. He expects even bigger accomplishments in the future.
"As the team grows in size and speed every season the girls and boys have set very lofty standards for next year’s program," said Panzik.
In the Month of May, Port Rowing made a splash on the national stage with strong showings in three major events.
The Stotesbury Cup
Three boats recently qualified at the New York State championships to represent Port Rowing at the world's largest high school Regatta, the Stotesbury Cup. More than 150 schools from the U.S. and Canada were represented at the event May 17-18 in Philadelphia
Port Rowing came out of the gate strong, advancing all three boats into the second round of top 18. The boats fell just shy of the top 6 final by seconds with the boys freshman eight placing 12th overall, and the girl’s lightweight four and men’s junior eight finishing 7th overall. In the adaptive category Michael Alstodt and Molly Lozner, who began rowing less than a year ago, won the title with a victory in the double.
Scholastic National Championships
The regatta acted as the seeding for the following weekend's National Scholastic Rowing Championships in Camden, N.J. on May 24-25.
The freshmen eight drew a tough first round and rowed their fastest race of the season but came up 1.5 seconds short of the next round, finishing 14th nationally.
The girl’s lightweight four cruised was guaranteed a top 12 finish with a strong first heat. In the second round, they fought through the wind and chop to just miss the finals, finishing 10th.
The junior boys had a dramatic come from behind victory to qualify for the second round where the crowd saw would might have been the race of the day with four boats crossing the line within one second of each other. The Port team finished 7th overall, missing a top three spot by a half second.
North East Regional Championships
While part of the team was participating in the other regatta's, other rowers were competing at North East Regional Championships in Lowell, Mass., where the team sent seven boats to the second day of races.
The top finisher for the girls was the varsity eight that finished fifth — the highest finish in the at the Northeast Regionals in the team's history.
The boy’s four earned a silver medal with a strong performance.
The Port program will lose a talented great group of seniors that will be rowing next year at the college level: Linsay Heyman (Southern Methodist University), Maggie Nelson (Clemson University), Erin Condon (Hobart and Williams Smith College), Melissa Iannucci (Fairfield University), Ashley Iannucci (Fairfield University) and John Meyer (New York University).
For more information on the rowing program, go online to www.portrowing.com or email info@portrowing.com.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
