Marietta Navy headed to Philadelphia for SRAA National Championship
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The Marietta Navy crew team is on the road to Philadelphia and the SRAA National Championship, as four rowers represent the team amidst a year which saw the roster faced with obstacles along the way.
The quad team of Lauren Clark, Lily Ditchendorf, Marie Rauch and Mo Caslow is the only team participating in national competition for MHS, and girls' head coach Joe Tewkesbury said the four rowers are ready to make an impact in the city of brotherly love. The path to nationals wasn't the smoothest due to weather concerns during qualifying at the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association regatta in Zanesville, as Tewkesbury detailed how the quad team punched its ticket. The group will be rowing in its heat against five other shells on Friday in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River. In total, there will be 12 teams in the quad event with the top three teams moving on to the Grand Final on Saturday.
"The only crew we're taking is the girls quadruple scull. In this boat, I've got two seniors (Ditchendorf, Rauch), and junior (Clark) and a freshman (Caslow)," he said. "We had to petition to get them in. We rode in the Midwest, which was a qualifying event in Zanesville, and they canceled the regatta after we rode the heats, because of the weather. It was absolutely in the soaking rain and in the 40s. That sets our kids up for hypothermia, so they called the regatta."
Then, Marietta petitioned to have two teams make it. However, only the team of Ditchendorf, Rauch, Clark and Caslow made it. Tewkesbury said the team had to have rowed fast enough throughout this season in order to make it, and the group did what it needed. The team found out last week about the decision and pressed on. The 2020 season was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that doesn't mean this team is lacking in experience or heart. Rauch, Ditchendorf and Clark all participated during the 2019 SRAA nationals. The expectations for success were always on the table for Tewkesbury's bunch, as he's looking forward to seeing the team try and succeed on the biggest stage in high school rowing.
"We would have made the Grand Final at the Midwest, but during the heats, we hit a buoy. We also caught a crab, which slowed us down. We were right up close enough that we would have hopefully placed in the Grad Final," Tewkesbury said of the team's difficulties during regional competition.
Even with those miscues, this team did enough to make it to Philadelphia. That's something these four can hang their hats on through a wild season.
"They've worked hard since spring on the ergometer. They've done the rowing, the running and the weight-lifting. They've practiced on the water to get here," he said. "Most of the major regattas didn't happen (due to COVID), so we got a coaches' group together on several Zoom meetings to put together some things to get these kids a chance to race. We worked it out with Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg South, some crews from Pittsburgh, some crews from Cleveland and crews from Columbus and managed to get some competition for them."
This year's National Championship is greatly reduced in size compared to years past. Only varsity events are being rowed, so this group for Marietta is part of an exclusive field.
"Getting into this one at all is a big accomplishment," Tewkesbury said. "This was not a given. You don't expect to go. You expect to do the best you can and hope you can get there. You've got to perform to get there, and if the cards fall the right way, and you perform to your level, you've got a shot. That's what we're hoping."
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com