In the News
2009-2010
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Edges Huron at Wyandotte.
Pioneer at the Speakmon Regatta, Columbus OH
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Finishes Second at prestigious Columbus Fall Classic.
The Horton Cup Experience.
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Gets the Jump at Frogtown.
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Edges Huron at Wyandotte
David Darnton, Community Reporter,
Sunday's calm winds and flat water on the Detroit River might have lulled some into thinking it was a quiet day at the 2009 American Heritage River Fall Classic. Keen observers knew better.
The Pioneer Crew team was locked in a fierce battle with cross-town rival Huron. In the end, only a single point separated the two teams as The pioneers finished their fall season on a high note, winning ten medals in eleven races and edging Huron to earn the BASF Cup at the American Heritage RiverFall Classic for the second straight year.
For the second week in a row, Pioneer's powerful duo of Scott Burdick and Jacob Merrell set the tone by taking the silver medal in the Men's Open 2. Only the college pair from Grand Valley was better in a tough field. Read more ...
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Captures Six Medals
David Darnton, Community Reporter, MLive.com. October 25, 2009.
Saturday the Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Team traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the second time in the month of October for another regatta stacked with all the powerhouse Midwest club and high school teams. This time it was the Speakmon Memorial Regatta on the Griggs Reservoir in Upper Arlington. Pioneer entered thirteen events and came away with a total of six medals.
Under dark clouds with gusty west winds, spectators and competitors alike could have been forgiven for thinking it was late November rather than late October. The challenging conditions seemed to motivate the Pioneer rowers from the moment they launched their first boat to head down to the start of this 5000 meter course. Read more...
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Finishes Second at Prestigious Columbus Fall Classic.
David Darnton, Community Reporter, MLive.com. October 11, 2009.
Saturday at the Columbus Fall Classic on the Hoover Reservoir as the sun warmed the crowd after a heavy overnight rain, Ann Arbor Pioneer's crew team heated up as well.
Pioneer earned medals in nearly every category entered: Varsity, Novice, and Lightweight in both girls and boys, as well as the JV women and the Mixed Eight. They entered eighteen races and captured ten medals. This propelled them to a comfortable second place on the highly competitive 5K course just east of Columbus. The host team, Westerville, took top honors on their home course.
Many of the good Midwest teams that attend this regatta are club teams like Westerville, which allows them to recruit rowers from anywhere in their home areas. Pioneer and Huron were among the handful of high school teams racing in Columbus. In the spring season, the Ann Arbor teams compete against other midwest high school teams rather than against club teams. The tough competition during the fall season here at Columbus helps prepare the rowers for spring. Read more...
High school crew teams compete at rare local regatta (with video).
Pete Cunningham, AnnArbor.com
BELLEVILLE - Shivering underneath an umbrella that had long since betrayed him, a man stood near the edge of Ford Lake Saturday, not quite frowning, but definitely not smiling.
The long look on his face suggested that with every rain drop that snuck by his umbrella, he thought of another place he’d rather be.
The opposite was true for the dozens of barefoot teenagers venturing into, rather than away from, the water. During the fall rowing season, 50-degrees and rainy with a nine-shades of gray sky is often par for the course.
"It’s like tradition, we just kind of deal with it. It’s all good," said Pioneer crew team member Max Jin, who quickly threw on a hoodie over his singlet upon leaving the water, but otherwise seemed unphased by Saturday’s adverse conditions at the Horton Regatta. "We’re used to it by now. We’ve been doing this for years." Read more and watch video...
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew Gets the Jump at Frogtown.
David Darnton, Community Reporter, MLive.com. September 28, 2009.
On Saturday, September 26 under cloudy skies with moderate winds and occasional mist, the Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew team members answered some questions for themselves. Coming off two championship seasons in a row, Pioneer's coaches and rowers had to wonder what they had left in the tank after losing so many strong rowers to graduation. In Toledo on Saturday at the Frogtown Regatta, they answered those questions while creating their own future by capturing medals in seven of the fourteen events they entered.
Afterward, Coach Rich Griffith could not have been more happy with the results because Frogtown attracts many of the powerhouse teams from the Midwest.
Griffith said, "It was a good day for our first race of the season, affording a chance to check out the Midwest competition and find out where we're succeeding and where we need to improve. It's incredibly competitive, for the varsity men in particular, and three top fives in the eights and fours is a comfortable place to be considering what they're up against. And seven medals in fourteen events points to good things as we move forward." Read more...
2008-2009
Pioneer Crew Celebrates the 2009 Season
Ann Arbor Pioneer Men's Crew captures tenth at Nationals
Ann Arbor Pioneer Finishes Fine Season; Captures Gold in Canada
Pioneer Crew Celebrates the 2009 Season
David Darnton / Community Reporter, mlive.com June 08, 2009
On Wednesday, June 3 the Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew team gathered with family members at Forsythe Middle School for the 2009 Pioneer Crew Banquet to celebrate a season filled with accomplishments. The event could not have been more perfectly timed since the team had only just returned from anotherstrong showing at the Canadian Secondary Schools Championship Regatta.
At St. Catharine's May 29, 30, and 31 ten of thirteen entries advanced through semis to finals on Sunday, the highest number Pioneer has ever sent into Sunday's races. For the second year on a row, Sunday's strong showing led to an overall 8thplace finish for Pioneer, the highest of the American entrants. There were 136 teams competing.
Pioneer set another standard this year by winning the Phil Chapman Memorial Trophy, awarded each year at St. Catharine's to the first place Women's Senior Four (Ali Breeding; Jessie Rampton; Riley Linebaugh; Annika Gage; and coxswain, Colleen Macke). The win is Pioneer's first gold medal at this regatta, considered to be the highest level of competition in North America.
In addition, the Men's Senior Four (Jacob Merrell; Colin Shields; Karl DeBoer; Scott Burdick; and coxswain, Elizabeth Kurcz) matched Pioneer's highest finish ever on the men's side by winning the silver medal. This second place finish at St.Catharine's bodes well for this crew's upcoming race at the US Youth Nationals in Cincinnati where the competition will be equally strong.
Ann Arbor Pioneer Men's Crew captures tenth at Nationals
David Darnton / Community Reporter, mlive.com June 14, 2009
Ann Arbor Pioneer Crew was represented by their Men's Senior Four at the 2009 US Rowing Youth National Championships, held on June 12, 13, and 14 at Harsha Lake outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Youth National Championships started under heavily overcast skies, with moderate winds and mist in the air. Pioneer's Men's 4 boat, with Colin Shields, Karl DeBoer, Jacob Merrell, Scott Burdick, and Elizabeth Kurcz at the coxswain position, met a stiff field of competitors. Their event had 16 entries; most were large club teams from the Boston area and the West Coast. Pioneer was one of the few public high schools competing out of approximately 140 teams present. Pioneer's gold medal finish in the Midwest Championships had automatically earned them a berth in this prestigious national event.
Friday's heat saw Pioneer grouped with several fast crews. The Pioneer crew was racing in the boat they'd had success with all year - the "Mavericks"- named for a legendary Hawaiian wave. Soon after the start, three competing boats pulled ahead, and the Pioneers crossed the line in 4th place. Their 4th place finish meant they would not advance directly to the semi-finals, but instead would have to fight their way through the reperchage the next morning, either to advance to the semis or to compete in the second tier.
Saturday's conditions included clear skies with warmer temperatures and glassy water. The start was clean, and several competitors went out fast. The Pioneers held their line and settled to a brisk stroke rating, slowly overtaking several boats that couldn't sustain the pace. Pioneer crossed the finish in a solid 3rd, which advanced them into the afternoon semis.
Perfect rowing conditions continued into Saturday afternoon for the semi-finals. The Pioneer Men's 4 rowed out for the start knowing that a 3rd place was necessary to carry them into the Grand Finals. Once again, they met fierce competition. The Pioneer crew indicated after the race that they had a good start and moved out strongly with the other boats, but by mid-course, three boats pulled away from the pack. Pioneer couldn't close the gap and crossed the line in 4th. This put the Pioneer crew in Sunday's "Petite" finals.
"These two races were our best of the year." Senior Karl DeBoer said. "We made no mistakes, and the boat was fast. We were a little slower in the second race because we had to race in the morning, but they were both good races for us. We're really happy with the way things went."
Sunday's conditions again were perfect for rowing. The Pioneer Men's 4 drew lane 4 in the petite finals. Pioneer rowed a fast race, but just missed out on the medals, again placing 4th.
Overall, it was a great showing. When the racing was completed, Pioneer had the tenth fastest Men's Senior Four in the nation this year!
Ann Arbor Pioneer Finishes Fine Season; Captures Gold in Canada
David Darnton / Community Reporter, mlive.com June 06, 2009
Ann Arbor Pioneer Senior Women's Four accomplished a first this year: they brought home the first gold medal ever from St. Catharine's Canadian Championships for the Pioneer Crew Teams. Pioneer has been close, earning a silver medal in the same event last year along with other silver and bronze medals in other events in recent years. With only one returning rower from that 2008 Women's Sr. Four silver medal crew, this year's Women's Sr. Four couldn't be blamed if they had been satisfied with just making the finals on Sunday in this highly competitive regatta. But that returning rower, senior, Jessica Rampton, and her three boatmates - senior, Ali Breeding; senior, Riley Linebaugh; and sophomore, Annika Gage - had a secret weapon. Senior coxswain, Colleen Macke guided the silver medal boat in 2008, and she knew what it would take to win the gold this year.
Macke called for a sprint earlier than usual in the 2000 meter race at St. Cat's. Only the strongest crews could hold that stroke rate for as long as Macke was calling for, but the Pioneer crew held off a strong challenge in the final 100 meters to win by half a boat length, a substantial margin in this regatta considered by many to be among the strongest scholastic rowing events in North America.
Afterwards on the winners' podium, the joy of their accomplishment was evident on their faces. They danced and hugged through the awards ceremony for the Phil Chapman Memorial Trophy, given each year to the winners of the Women's Senior Four. The Pioneer parents and fans in attendance shared in their joy; they all knew what an accomplishment they 'd just witnessed.
When Pioneer first started sending boats to The Canadian Championships in St. Catharines, veteran crew parents can remember what a thrill it was when just one boat made it through the difficult Friday prelims and Saturday semifinals. There were 137 teams at this year's regatta, each with entries in many of the 36 events, and only six boats survived to race on Sunday in each of the 36 final events. Five years ago it was a big deal just to have one "Sunday Boat," a term of endearment used to describe the rare boat that qualified to race on the final day. In 2008, Pioneer coaches thought they'd arrived when they sent six boats through to Sunday's finals. This year Pioneer took 13 boats to St. Cats; 10 of them lived to race on Sunday. That's ten "Sunday Boats."
The gold medal win for the Women's Sr. Four was the highlight, but there were many other strong pioneer finishes that day. When the racing was over, Pioneer finished eighth overall (Men's and Women's combined scores) in the field of 137. That matched their eighth place finish in 2008 and made them the highest finishing American team in the regatta for the second straight year.
The other Sunday boats for the Pioneer women were:
Junior Women Eight - Zoe Psarouthakis; Jane McDonnell; Hannah Graham; Anna Anthony; Rachel Bielajiw; Kendall Phillips; Jordan Jones; Joyce Miyake; and coxswain, Debbie Park.
Junior Women Four - Zoe Psarouthakis; Kendall Phillips; Claire Barrett; Anna DeBoer; and coxswain, Debbie Park.
Senior Women Eight - Ali Breeding; Jessica Rampton; Riley Linebaugh; Annika Gage; Ravhel Bielajew; Elizabeth Bush; Anna DeBoer; Claire Barrett; and coxswain, Colleen Macke.