Rowers Excel at Regetta

| Sunday, April 30, 2017, TRIB-LIVE

The Fox Chapel Crew rowing team got a preview of regionals in the Dillon Lake Scholastic Sprints regatta April 22 in Ohio and liked what it saw.

The Foxes came away with six top-three finishes, including three wins, on the 1,500-meter course on which the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association Championship will be held May 13-14. The event was known as the Dillon Lake Invitational.

“This race is always an important preparation for our regional championship,” Fox Chapel coach Mark Bellinger said. “Since this winter and spring have been full of poor weather and a flooded river, it was our team’s first race, so doubly important.”

Senior Alan McIvor came in first of seven competitors in the men’s single sculling event. McIvor, who plans to continue rowing with the UCLA club varsity program, had a time of 6 minutes, 57.60 seconds, close to four seconds ahead of the runner-up from Parkersburg South in West Virginia.

“Dillon is a growing regatta, and there were some very competitive teams there,” said McIvor, 18, of O’Hara. Sophomores Mallory McIvor, Elyse Armstrong and Leah Fetting and senior Sarah Hamilton were in the women’s quad that won. The foursome (7:15.21) topped second-place Three Rivers Rowing of Washington’s Landing (8:12.14).

“The race boosted the confidence of all the girls in the boat and showed us our winter training paid off,” said Fetting, 16, who lives in Fox Chapel. “It made us excited about our upcoming regattas.”

Sophomores Daniel Andrud and Sam Gilmore (6:51.70) beat second-place Canisius (7.00.80).

The men’s quad of Alan McIvor and sophomores Connor McAtee, Joe Kirklewski and Trevor Klatt (6:20.18) was runner-up to Parkersburg South (6:09.58).

Placing third was the women’s novice eight of freshmen Anna Vignali, Leda Perdriel-Arons, Cate Seay, Chloe Bennett, Molly Mozurak, Lucy Perkins and Zeynep Ozkaya and junior Noora Tuominen, plus junior coxswain Anzu Sekikawa (6:51.06). The men’s novice four of sophomores Brian Mulhern, Landon Williams, Nathaniel Good and Rodrigo Esteves and freshman coxswain Marilyn Brach (6:56.60) also were bronze medalists.