The Oklahoma City University Rowing team won three gold, one silver and two bronze in the first day of racing at the Head of the Hooch Regatta.
Men's Squad
The men won three of the five events they entered on the Tennessee River. In the Men’s Eight (8+), coxswain Jacob Fox (sophomore, Egg Harbor Township, NJ) led the eight men of Jimmy VonPeters (junior stroke seat from Chattanooga, TN), Jared Hooley (senior 7 seat from Eugene, OR), Edgars Boitmanis (sophomore 6 seat from Furmala, Latvia), Matthew Mahon (sophomore 5 seat from Chesterfield, MO), Ryan Claussen (freshman 4 seat from Manhattan, KS), Brock Turner (freshman 3 seat from Tulsa, OK), Matthew Maddamma (freshman 2 seat from Carnegie, PA) and CB Collier (freshman bow seat from Fairfax Station, VA) to a winning time of 15:10 followed by Rowing Newfoundland (15:37) and Vanderbilt University (16:08).
The men also took home the gold medal in the Men’s Open quad (4x). VonPeters, Hooley, Boitmanis and Madddamma rowed the course in a 15:40. Later in the day, Boitmanis paired with Maddamma to win the Championship Double (2x) in 16:51 beating their teammate, VonPeters. VonPeters paired with Oklahoma City (OKC) Riversport athlete Drew McNichols for the silver medal finish of 17:22. Tampa Rowing Club took third place.
Men’s Coach Cameron Brown said, “There is a lot of competition at the Head of the Hooch and being able to win in both sweep and sculling events points to the versatility of the athletes and the depth of the program.”
Women's Squad
The women won two bronze medals one the first day of racing in the two events they entered. The all-senior women’s four (4+) led by coxswain Briana Hurley (Oklahome City), Dinah Harjo (stroke seat from Norman, OK), Megan Duffy (3 seat from Bothell, WA), A. Rose Lane (2 seat from Tulsa, OK) and Katie Sondag (bow seat from Eugene, OR) pulled a time of 19:04 which was good enough to clinch the third place spot in a field of thirty-three crews. Emory University (18:33) and Rowing Newfoundland (18:42) finished first and second.
Junior scullers, Kathryn Schiro (stroke seat from Huntsville, AL) and Jane Imfeld (bow seat from Grapevine, TX) rowed the five kilometre course in 18:29, fifty-four seconds ahead of the fourth place University of Kansas crew. The University of Central Florida (18:19) and Duke University (18:27) took the top two spots.
Women’s Coach Melanie Borger, “This is the fourth year that OCU has travelled to and competed at the Head of the Hooch, so it has been a special race for our seniors. Winning that bronze medal has made it even more memorable. I am looking forward to watching everyone compete again tomorrow.”
Parents
A few hearty (it's cold here) and intrepid parents made the trip to Chattanooga to cook for and cheer on our rowers. The coaches would like to send a special thank you to Lucyann Harjo for helping to drive the bus, Julia Branch and Joe Hill for all the homecooked meals, Brad Claussen for our new banners, and the Mahons, Linda Robbins and Janet Puckett for all their on-site support.
The Stars rowing team will race in the singles (1x) and pairs (2-) events at the Head of the Hooch tomorrow. Check for our results at headofthehooch.org
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