After a year's absence, the Marietta High School Lindamood Cup Regatta is scheduled to take place on the Muskingum River at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Darn the debris and full speed ahead.
Last spring, the annual event was cancelled due to the area's heavy rainfall, which caused the river level to swell.
Article Photos
Photo courtesy of Don Peters, Harmar Rowing Club President
On March 24, the Marietta High boys crew competed against PHS and Parkersburg South. In above photo, from left to right, are Coxswain Kassidy Peters, stroke seat Alex Lowther, seven seat Mike Sullivan, six seat Andrew Billingsley, five seat Shawn Cox, and four seat Cian Stryker. MHS will be hosting the Lindamood Regatta Saturday.
"Mother Nature got us good," said Lisa Osborne, who along with Michelle Billingsley are the co-race directors.
Not once but twice.
The 2011 Lindamood Cup was originally slated to be held on April 9. But that was not possible, so the rowing competition was rescheduled two weeks later on April 23.
Unfortunately, the river still hadn't calmed down, and the event was cancelled a second time.
Wait until next year.
Well, next year is here, and all systems are a-go, and the water show will go on as planned.
"We've got our fingers crossed that the races will go on, but they're saying that there's a 40 percent chance of rain," said MHS girls coach Joe Tewkesbury. "And if there are thunderstorms, that'll stop it."
Currently, 14 schools are entered in the regatta, with 33 events scheduled to run. Heats will be in the morning.
Gilman Avenue will be closed between New Street and Stone Street for the day, and access to the Muskingum River will be limited during races.
"This'll be one of the biggest regattas that we've ever had," Tewkesbury said.
Added Marietta boys rowing coach Eric Dowler, "We have teams coming from five different states. This weekend's regatta should be full of great racing.
"I'm looking forward to the guys getting back to action after a very intense week of spring break training. The team seems to be focused and ready to line up against anybody who wants to race."
So far, the entries include Grosse Ile High School (Grosse Ile, Mich.), St. Joseph Collegiate Inst. (Buffalo, N.Y.), Allderdice High School (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Gibraltar Carlson High School (Gibraltar, Mich.), North Allegeheny Rowing Association (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shaker Heights High School (Shaker Heights, Oh.), Dublin Crew (Dublin, Oh.), North Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Hampton High School (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Hilliard Rowing Association (Hilliard, Oh.), Oakland Catholic Rowing (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Parkersburg South, Parkersburg High School and host Marietta High School.
Several of Parkersburg South's rowers reportedly will be be taking ACTs Saturday morning.
Grosse Ile, Gibraltar Carlson, and St. Joe's are already in Marietta, and practicing on the Muskingum River.
"This weekend kicks off five straight weeks of high level competition throughout the Midwest for the team," Dowler said. "This is exactly what we have been training for since the early winter months."
The MHS Tiger Navy last competed on the water when it hosted cross-river rivals Parkersburg High and Parkersburg South on March 24. During the tri, the Tiger boys captured the novice four, junior four, junior eight, and lighweight four.
The girls also dominated, winning the lightweight four, varsity four, novice eight, varsity eight, novice four, and junior eight.
PHS won only one event, the girls junior four; South was runner-up.
"We rode reasonably well for this time of the year," Tewkesburg said. "We're a pretty young team, heavy on freshmen, which is really good."
Tewkesbury said that after graduating 14 last year and 17 the year before, the 2012 MHS girls roster will be featuring 24 rowers.
The Lady Tiger Navy roster includes Taylor Boone, Monica Brill, Megan Broughton, Hailey Carmen, Courtney Clark, K.C. Corter, Savannah Falter, Caitlin Falter, Amanda Ferguson, Lizzie Frazier, Hannah Gammon, Brianna Geogerian, Barrett Hupp, Erin Mahaffey, Emma Martin, Sara McMahan, Jazzy Metcalf, Katy Oster, Becca Poulson, Abigail Snipes, Taylor Thieman (Gaskins), Hailey Varnadoe, Annie Weaver, Olivia Wesel, and Ashton Wisenbarger.
The Marietta Tiger Navy boys roster will be featuring Sami Alley, Shawn Cox, Ty Cunningham, Chris Hammat, Kassidy Peters, Gene Phillis, Mike Sullivan, Andrew Billingsley, Alex Lowther, Terry Morris, Holden Weihl, Josh Burke, Cian Stryker, Connor Bargeloh, Zach Bartlett, Chrissy Billinsley, Matthew Blauser, and Lucas Danford.
Tanner O'Connor is the MHS frosh coach.
"Our numbers are down from what is typical but those on the team are tough and resilient," Dowler said. "I'd look for a strong performance out of the entire team but really look to see how the lightweight 8+ will perform as well as the novice squad."
