From www.northfulton.com: "For the second consecutive year, the Atlanta Junior Rowing Association (AJRA) captured the Team Points award for the most points for a juniors club participating at the Georgia Tech ERG Sprints, an indoor race of 2000 meters on rowing machines." Read the whole article.

    AJRA Varsity rower John Lee is one of 43 student-athletes who earned honorable mention scholastic honor roll accolades this week from USRowing.
    The USRowing Scholastic Honor Roll recognizes high school seniors who have excelled in both academics and rowing. Winners were selected based on a numerical ranking of their grades in academics, ACT or SAT scores and class rank. Overall, 172 student-athletes from 83 rowing clubs and schools from around the country applied for the 2008-2009 USRowing Scholastic Honor Roll.

    AJRA's Coach Julie McQueen brought a college teammate to visit the Row for the Cure Event on Saturday, September 20. Olympian gold medalist Lindsay Shoop, a former University of Virginia rower, visited the event and brought her gold medal she won in Beijing! Lindsay is four-time national team member and first-time Olympian. Some of AJRA's varsity girls pictured with Lindsay above (L-R): Daphne Astolfi, Lauren Robinson, Lindsay Shoop, Coach Julie, Allison Schlenke, and Cristen Cagle.

    From www.northfulton.com: "Row for the Cure on the Chattahoochee gained a bit more luster of the golden variety when an Olympic Gold Medalist arrived." Read the whole article.

    By finishing in the top 3 in their respective events at the SE Regional Youth Championship, the Men's Varsity 8+ and the Women's Varsity 8+ have earned an invitation to compete at the USRowing National Youth Championship in Cincinnati, OH on June 13-15. At this regatta, they will have the opportunity to compete with the top boats in the country for a national championship. For AJRA, this year marks the first year that the club has been able to qualify both a Men's Varsity 8+ and a Women's Varsity 8+. For more information on the event, click here.

    This past weekend AJRA finished its regular season at the SE Regional Youth Championship in Tampa, FL. Capping off one of the most successful seasons in team history, AJRA was able to medal in 5 events: Women's 3V 8+, Men's 2V 8+, Women's 2V 8+, Men's Varsity 8+, Women's Varsity 8+. The Women's 3V 8+ raced in a finals only race on Saturday and were able to finish 3rd in their event. This boat consisted of Katura Finn (cox), Ashley Bean, Claire Fredericks, Maggie Snyder, Jennifer Butler, Marli Goro, Selin Atlas, Holly Clark, and Betsy Bender. Both the Men's 2V 8+ and Women's 2V 8+ were looking to defend their 1st place victories at the Dogwood regatta against the tougher Florida competition. Both boats were easily able to qualify out of their heats for the afternoon final. In the final the Men's 2V 8+ finished 3rd in a time of 6:04.7 behind Capital City Rowing and Winter Park High School. The Men's 2V 8+ consisted of Mitchell Miller (cox), Ross Sholota, Corey Conklin, Michael Walczak, Caleb Elder, Connor Smith, Matt Goldman, Bryan Ahn, Matt Page. The Women's 2V 8+ finished 3rd with a time of 6:54.0 behind 2nd place Orlando Area Rowing Society and winner Plant High Rowing Association. The Women's 2V 8+ included Sara Kavoosifar (cox), Alicia Knebel, Lauren Robinson, Kaitlin Johnson, Laura Morgan, Nicole Voland, Devin Moore, Andrea Amszynski, Emma Murray. The Men's Varsity 8+ and Women's Varsity 8+ faced tough racing in their Saturday morning heats and Saturday afternoon repechage but were able to qualify comfortably for the Sunday morning final. In one of the closest finishes of the day, the Men's Varsity 8+ was able to finish 3rd behind Sarasota Crew and Winter Park High School. Their time of 5:53.34 was .4 seconds ahead of 5th place Baylor School and .2 seconds ahead of 4th place Gainesville Area Rowing. The Men's Varsity 8+ consisted of Savannah Cookson (cox), John Lee, Chadd Nolan, Ryan Blasiak, Nico Orologas, Shawn Connell, Matt Steine, Jon Eck, Matt Cecil. The Women's Varsity 8+ were also able to put together a great race to finish 3rd in a time of 6:22.67, 4 seconds behind winner Orlando Area Rowing Society and less than one second behind runner-up Plant High Rowing Association. In addition to the medaling boats, AJRA was also able to place 4 other boats in the finals. These were the Men's Novice 8+, the Women's Novice 8+, the Men's Lightweight 4+, and the Women's Varsity 4+. The Men's Novice 8+, the Women's Novice 8+, and the Women's Varsity 4+ finished 5th while the Men's Lightweight 4+ finished 6th. Complete race results can be found here.

  Finishing up another strong fall season, AJRA won the team trophy at Henley on the Hooch. Henley on the Hooch is a scrimmage with St. Andrew Rowing Club that is held annually on the Chattahoochee River. The race dates back to the early 90's but was dicontinued in the late 90's. In recent history, the race has been held for the last four years. This year's victory makes this the 4th year in a row that AJRA has won the event.
  All four squads contributed to the team's total points. Both the Varsity Women and Novice Men swept their races. The Varsity Women saw their squad win victories in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Varsity Women's 8+ while the Novice Men won in the 1st and 2nd Novice Men's 8+ and the 3rd Novice Men's 4+. Of their two races, the Novice Women won the 1st Novice Women's 8+ and came in second in the closest race of the day in the 2nd Novice Women's 4+. The Varisty Men finished second to SA in both the 1st and 2nd Varsity Men's 8+ but won the 3rd Varsity Men's 8+ and the 4th Varsity Men's 4+.
  Many parents and alumni were on hand to support the rowers. In the end, the collaborative effort by all four squads resulted in AJRA finishing with a total of 130 team points to St. Andrew's 55 points making this the largest margin of victory to date. Complete race results can be found here.

    Continuing on with their strong results this fall, the Varsity Women finished 2nd, 5th, and 20th out of a field of 31 boats from throughout the Southeast as well as the Midwest. The 2nd place finishing boat consisting of: (L to R) Sarah Waye, Kate Hixon, Madi Shields, Alison McCarn, Victoria Hartmann, Alyssa Egan, Cristen Cagle, Anna Almquist, and Christina Kapusta was presented with their medals by the US Men's National Team. In the other squads, the Varsity Men finished 8th and 24th out of 35 boats in the Heavyweight 8+, 28 seconds off of winner McCallie. They also finshed 6th in the Lightweight 8+. The Novice Women finished 4th in the 8+ and the Novice Men finished 5th in the 8+ continuing a strong season by the novice. For full results, click here.

    For the 3rd year in a row, AJRA won the team trophy at the Chattanooga Head Race. The team trophy is a points trophy that reflects successful results by all parts of the team. This year AJRA saw success in all events. The Novice Men finished 2nd and 4th in the 8+ and 2nd and 7th in the 4+. The Novice Women improved off their 2nd places finish at Secret City to finish 1st and 6th in the 8+ and 1st and 4th in the 4+. The Varsity Men finished 2nd, 4th, and 5th in the 8+ while moving closer to winner McCallie. The Varsity Women continued their winning streak by finishing 1st, 5th, and 6th in the 8+. For full results, click here.

    Savannah Cookson was recently named to the USRowing's 2007-2008 Scholastic Honor Roll. The USRowing Scholastic Honor Roll recognizes high school seniors who have excelled in both academics and rowing. Applicants must be USRowing members, have rowed or coxed at least one year, and successfully competed at or above the league or regional level. Of the 185 applicants, only 36 were named to the Scholastic Honor Roll. Savannah is a senior at Milton High School and is a coxswain for the Varsity Men. For a full press release, click here.

    This past weekend, AJRA competed at the Southeast Regional Youth Qualifier in Clemson, S.C. This regatta is the qualifier race for the Southeast region in order to be invited to USRowing's National Youth Invitational in Cincinatti, OH in June. For the first time in team history, AJRA was able to qualify two eights. The Women's Youth Lightweight 8 of Caroline Shepard (Cox), Cayce Jett (8), Calli Taylor (7), Sarah Waye (6), Sarah Darling (5), Emily Martin (4), Taylor Gonzalez (3), Kalyn Rosenberg (2), Laura Shepard (Bow) finished 3rd in its final to take home a bronze medal as well as an invitation to Nationals.
    Racing in the second to last race of the day, the Women's Youth 8 of Lauren Vinciguerra (8), Anna Almquist (7), Ana Winter (6), Daniella Barone (5), Madi Shields (4), Alison McCarn (3), Victoria Hartmann (2), Alyssa Egan (Bow) also finished 3rd in its final to earn its invitation to Nationals.
    For the rest of the team, the Southeast Regional Youth Qualifier represented the strongest competition that they would face all season. AJRA performed well and saw both the Men's Youth JV 8 and the Women's Youth JV 8 take home bronze medals in their respective events. Complete results can be found here.

    Each year, USRowing undergoes a selection process across the entire country searching for rowers that may ultimately represent the United States in international competition. A series of identification events, erg score postings, and recommendations from coaches are used to qualify rowers for selection to Junior National Team summer camps. The National Team coaches offer invitations to those rowers demonstrating the skills and qualities commensurate with elite international competition. Those athletes identified as having significant potential are selected for Junior National Team Development camps, while the best of the best are invited to THE Selection camp from which the Junior National Team will be chosen.
  Those invitations have been sent out, and not one but THREE AJRA rowers have been selected for National Camps this Summer!
  Madi Shields has been extended an invitation to participate in the Junior National Team Women?s Selection Camp while Victoria Hartman and Katlin Johnson have been extended an invitation to participate in the Junior National Team Women?s Sculling Development Camp.