The Peddie School’s girls four boat with coxswain powered past the best boats in the country to capture the Grand Final at the U.S. Rowing National Youth Championships on Harsha Lake in Amelia, Ohio, recently. Junior Brittany Tarabour (bow), of Middletown, teamed with coxswain Chloe Delaney, Roxanne Carini (two seat), Erin Hawes (three seat) and stroke Lauren Libfraind to battle Pomfret School (Conn.) down the 2,000-meter course, winning the gold by 1.16 seconds or about two seat lengths.
The Falcon team had about a boat-length lead at the 1,000-meter mark, followed by the gritty Pomfret and Ann Arbor contingents, who slowly cut into the lead over the next 750 meters. In the last 250 meters all three boats had good sprints, but the Falcons held off the hard-charging Pomfret team to claim Peddie’s first official national title in a crew event.
“We knew Pomfret had a strong finish, so our plan was to take control early and let everyone else play catch up,” girls head coach Steven Lloyd said. “This was exactly the kind of race that should happen in a national championship – hard-fought and exciting.”
This year there was no turning back the Falcons as the varsity four boat swept every regatta entered during the fall and spring seasons.
Formerly called the Youth Invitational, US Rowing has designated the event as an official national championship this year. The event featured more than 1,100 high school and junior athletes from more than 120 programs, with titles being contested in the men’s and women’s eight, lightweight eight, quadruple sculls, four with coxswain, lightweight four with coxswain, double sculls and single sculls.