This past weekend, both AJRA novice squads headed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for the Secret City Head Race. The novice teams were certainly able to showcase their depth, with both squads each entering three novice 8+’s and four novice 4+’s, as well as entering both top 8+’s in the varsity 8+ event. Rowers and coxswains gained valuable race experience with several trips down the course, and came home with some great results. The highlight of the day was AJRA’s Novice Women’s A 8+, taking home gold in a field of 13 other novice 8+’s!

Go AJRA!

 

Women’s Novice 8+: 1st, 5th, 10th
Women’s Varsity 8+: 6th
Women’s Novice 4+: 2nd, 11th, 13th, 17th
Men’s Novice 8+: 3rd, 11th, 12th
Men’s Varsity 8+: 4th
Men’s Novice 4+: 5th, 6th, 14th, 20th

AJRA Novice Rowers returned from Oak Ridge, Tennessee with some awesome results and had a lot of fun. The Novice Men impressed with their focus and enthusiasm. The guys did a great job and as Coach Adrian said “had to work for it-one of the best races they have had in a long time.”  The 8+ boats came in 2nd, 5th, and 13th with our A boat finishing 32 seconds ahead of 3rd place! Everyone worked really well together at Secret City, which was twice as competitive as their last race and excellent preparation for Head of the Hooch. The 8+ B boat came in ahead of 4 other teams’ A boat.  And finishing strong in the 4+: Novice Men B boat beat 7 A boats and AJRA C boat beat both of A and B boats of SA.Well done, VM!

Overall the Novice Women had a great day. They came in 1st, 4th and 8th in the Novice Women’s 8+ event. Coach Anna commented on how solid the 4’s looked bringing home 2nd, 4th, and 8th in the Novice Women’s 4+event. The highlights of the day were coming in first place in 8+ and beating SA by 12 seconds after trailing them by 16 seconds in our previous competition. The C boat can also be proud of beating 3 A boats in the 8+.

Secret City was instrumental in bringing everyone together and getting serious for the upcoming weekend in Chattanooga!

Story and photo submitted by Robie DuChateau, AJRA VM and student reporter — It was a long, foggy morning in Oak Ridge, TN, this past Sat., Oct. 30 for the annual Secret City Regatta.  After a 2 1/2 hour delay, the sun came out and the regatta got under way.  AJRA sent out 8s and 4s for all four squads and medaled in 11 events.  Varsity Women earned 1st in the 4+ event as well as the 8+ event, where they made AJRA history by sending out four separate boats.  Varsity Men’s 8+ beat out rival St. Andrew’s by six seconds for 2nd place behind only McCallie’s 8.  Varsity Men also claimed 1st and 3rd in the 4+ event with the B boat passing the A boat during the race.  The Varsity Men saw the Lightweight 4+ grab 2nd place and 8+ earn 1st, resulting in almost every member of the squad medaling at the regatta.  Novice Women earned 3rd in the 4+ event and 6th in the 8+.  Novice Men saw success by clenching 1st and 3rd in the 4+ and 2nd in the 8+ events.  Overall, AJRA had a successful regatta and a lot of heavy medals on the bus ride back home.  

AJRA rowers came home from Oak Ridge, TN, late Sat., Oct. 30, having captured 11 medals — 5 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze — at a fog-delayed Secret City Regatta.  The Varsity Women’s 8+ and 4+ placed first in their events in a convincing fashion ahead of tough competitors Atomic Rowing and St. Andrews.  Novice Women earned 6th in the 8+ event and 3rd in the 4+ event.  Varsity Men’s 8+ finished a strong 2nd behind McCallie Preparatory School and ahead of St. Andrews.  The 4+ event saw Varsity Men capture both 1st place (B boat) and 3rd place (A boat).  Varsity Men’s Lightweight 4+ earned 2nd place and the 8+ placed 1st.   Novice Men’s 4+ finished 1st (A boat) and 3rd (B boat) with the 8+ earning 2nd place.  Complete results are available at www.orra.org.  Congratulations on a great regatta!

Get ready for the Secret City Head Race — AJRA’s second regatta of the fall season and first overnight trip.  Rowers will travel to Oak Ridge, TN on Fri., Oct. 29, for the regatta to be held on Sat., Oct. 30.  Oak Ridge is an awesome place to view a race because spectators are so close they can often see the rowers’ faces.  Come get a preview of this venue, which was recently named as the site of US Rowing’s Youth National Championships for 2011 and 2012.  All the details of the trip are in the Members Only section