The boys and girls first eights rowed their semifinals today and both qualified for the grand finals at the USRowing Youth National Championship at Harsha Lake outside Cincinnati, Ohio. Tomorrow morning, they will race for medals and the titles of the fastest youth crews in the United States. Only twice have any eights from any school from the NEIRA ever won at Nationals: the 1995 St. Paul’s boys and the 1996 Exeter boys. This year, both the boys in the Titus and the girls in the Gilmartin have the potential to join these ranks of national champions.

The boys eight, rowing in the Titus with (from bow to stroke) Tim Moore ‘08, Vaughan Coder ‘08, Mario Barosevcic ‘08, Ryan Jones ‘09, Chris Jones ‘08, Andrew Safir ‘08, Ian Winthrop ‘08, Luke Thoms ‘08, and Alex Manfull ‘09, raced their top-3 semifinal today at 4:08 PM. Also in this race was Newport Aquatic Center, Winter Park High School, St. Augustine Prep, Westerville Rowing Club and Green Lake Crew. Despite a delayed start, the boys were able to hold off the entire field except for Newport, finishing second in 5:53.31, 0.47 seconds ahead of third place Winter Park. Looking ahead to tomorrow’s 11:20 AM grand final, boats are assigned as follows:

• Lane 1: Winter Park High School (school from Winter Park, Florida)
• Lane 2: Capital Crew (club from Gold River, California)
• Lane 3: Newport Aquatic Center (club from Newport Beach, California)
• Lane 4: St. Joseph’s Prep (school from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• Lane 5: Phillips Exeter Academy
• Lane 6: Wayland-Weston (club from Wayland, Massachusetts)

The girls eight, rowing in the M. Catherine Gilmartin with (from bow to stroke) Lyn Ann Forrester ‘08, Allison Courtin ‘08, Katrina Regan ‘08, Erin Metcalf ‘09, Katherine Dyke ‘08, Lizzy McDermott ‘08, Rory Erickson-Kulas ‘08, Cathy McDermott ‘08, and Alyssa Murray ‘08, rowed their semifinal today at 3:47 PM. Also in this race was Community Rowing, St. Paul’s School, Lincoln Park Juniors, Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club, and Oakland Strokes. The girls rowed another strong 2000 meter piece and finished first without sprinting, 0.79 seconds ahead of Community Rowing. Looking ahead to the girls grand final tomorrow at 10:56 AM, boats are assigned as follows:

• Lane 1: St. Paul’s School (NEIRA school from Concord, New Hampshire)
• Lane 2: Marin Rowing Association (club from Greenbrae, California)
• Lane 3: Phillips Exeter Academy
• Lane 4: Los Gatos Rowing Club (club from Los Gatos, California)
• Lane 5: Community Rowing (club from Watertown, Massachusetts)
• Lane 6: Green Lake Crew (club from Seattle, Washington)

To see how both crews have progressed through their heats, repechages and semifinals in the three-day regatta, check out the updated brackets below:

Best of luck to both crews. Follow along with the races as the results are published live at the Racetrak results page.

Finish line photos courtesy of Racetrak and Finishlynx.

Update: The schedule has been adjusted slightly.  The girls now race at 10:56 AM and the boys at 11:20 AM.