Cranbury’s Mikula, Orcutt fourth in Grand Final

By: Justin Feil
   The Mercer Junior Rowing Club’s boys’ lightweight four plus coxswain was a boat assembled just a week before the regionals.
   Princeton High School students Mike Mikula and Cameron Orcutt, both from Cranbury, and Brad Dewey, along with West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Brenton Henry and coxswain Jordan Hill of West Windsor-Plainsboro South, got the most out of their short time together. Not only did they win regionals to reach the United States Rowing Youth Nationals, but there they placed fourth in the country Sunday.
   "Usually when put together a boat that quickly," said Dewey, a junior at PHS, "it’s hard to find your rhythm and speed. It kind of clicked when we rowed together for the first time."
   Dewey and Hill had been in the MJRC boys’ lightweight four last year that finished 13th at the nationals. This year’s boat, they agreed, had more potential from the outset.
   "The competition was definitely a lot stronger but we went in a lot more confident," said Hill, who is a junior at WW-P South. "We had definitely improved from last year. We got three guys that helped out the boat more."
   Mikula is one of the newcomers to the boat. The lone senior in the boat, he rowed in the lightweight eight boat (not the fours, as reported in last week’s Press) that went to nationals last year and won the petite final for seventh overall. He was proud of finishing even higher this year.
   "I was really happy with the results," Mikula said. "We were ahead of the fifth-place winner by inches. They were ahead of us the whole race and we were able to bring it back at the end. I was really happy with our results."
   MJRC covered its final course together in 7 minutes, 11.99 seconds. It was one-tenth of a second faster than the Oakland Strokes and just 1.8 seconds behind third-place Berkeley High School for the bronze medal.
   "I think we did very well for the amount of time we spent together as a boat," Dewey said. "I was very satisfied making the grand final. Fourth place is a disappointing place. You’re so close to third. You want to be able to step it up a notch. But I’m satisfied with the result."
   The Mercer boat had trained together for just four weeks by the time nationals came around. They had been in one weekend of racing at regionals, and had a scrimmage against the Norwalk (Conn.) boat a week before nationals. In practices, they got a sense of where they stood by taking on the MJRC heavy four.
   "Even though we had only been together a few weeks, the whole boat was pretty confident we’d come out pretty high in the rankings," Henry said. "Even though we put the boat together late, we were able to get together in time and make it like we’d been together for some time."
   Added Orcutt: "I thought the finish was one of the best races I’ve ever been in. It was so close. It was tenths of a second separating us from third and fifth. Our boat has really good finishing. We’ll bring up our stroke rate. We just started pulling hard. I nearly passed out. I have absolutely no regrets."
   If anything, Orcutt and those eligible to return next year are more motivated to come back and improve upon their fourth-place showing, tops among MJRC boats this year. MJRC also sent heavyweight eight and a heavyweight four boats.
   "We are losing most of our (eight) team this year," Orcutt said. "Most of them are seniors. That’s probably going to be my motivation — to get back without the seniors. It provides an added challenge."
   Hill said: "It does really push you more to want to do better. The first time you go, you’re surprised how strong the competition is. You’re only racing Northeastern boats until you get there."
   Once at nationals, the Mercer crew saw quickly that it was one of the top boats. It finished second in its heat, but its time was better than the winning boat’s time in the other heat. The MJRC won its repecharge on Saturday to qualify for the finals.
   "Personally, I wasn’t too confident," said Mikula, who will row at Loyola (Md.) next fall. "I felt like as if I had used a lot of my energy. I had gone all-out on that repecharge to get first place. I knew the competition would be stiff. I didn’t know what to expect."
   Said Orcutt: "Three races in three days is pretty tough. I tried to save a little bit for the final. I knew we were going to get there."
   Orcutt credited the coaching of Nick Anderson and Simon Carcagno for helping the boat find the strength to compete in the final. Orcutt was happy to have the chance to row. Last year, he was in the boat that qualified for nationals, but was replaced by an upperclassmen before nationals. He made the most of his first chance there.
   So, too, did Henry, the least experienced of the rowers. He began last year as a sophomore, following in the footsteps of his father, who rowed in Canada as a youth. Going to nationals in his second year was a thrill for Henry.
   "It was definitely a more diversified and challenging environment than most of the other regattas I’ve been in," he said. "Even though we didn’t medal, I felt like we accomplished a lot. The boat that had beaten us out by a second was last year’s champions. If we work at it, we should be able to pull off a medaling run.
   "The way I look at it, last year, Marina Aquatic Center was fourth. They kept three of their guys. It’s pretty much the same as we’re doing."
   The Marina Aquatic Center Junior Rowing team won Sunday. The MJRC lightweight four doesn’t know if it will have that chance to reunite for next year, but all are hoping to return to nationals.
   "The environment was awesome," Orcutt said. "The lake was beautiful. The competition was there. The best rowers from around the country were there. What’s not to like?"
   The only other thing any of the MJRC team could have wanted was a medal. It’s what will be in the back of their minds through their summer workouts and into next season.
   "It was hard not medaling," Hill said. "At the same time, we went in and did our best. We knew they pulled as hard as they can. They tried their best. Just making it there is a huge goal and accomplishment."
   It was the culmination of the season for five rowers. Put together late in the season, they delivered the top finish for MJRC.
   "I’m definitely looking forward to next season," Dewey said. "It’s just basically a great sport to be involved in. You carry over the intensity of rowing into your daily life. It makes you excel at school and everything."