Four Sarasota entries reach semifinals at Nationals

The rowing season has been a triumphant one for the Sarasota Crew.

The team won its sixth consecutive state sculling title, its seventh consecutive state sweeps state title and a sixth straight Southeast Region title.

The only thing missing is a national title.

The team still has a chance for one at this weekend’s USRowing Youth National Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, although its three remaining boats have a great deal of work to do Saturday.

Jessica Frisch and Katie Beiler advanced in the Women’s Youth 2x. They turned in a time of 7 minutes, 46.181 seconds to finish with the 11th-fastest time in the heats. The top 12 boats in each race class advanced to Saturday’s semifinals. Only the top six in the semifinals advance to the final. Frisch and Beiler, who finished second at the Southeast Regionals, were 11 seconds slower than the sixth-fastest boat in the heats. Their semifinal is scheduled for 8:40 a.m.

Kris Schumann and Chris Cail finished with the eighth-fastest time in the Men’s Youth 2x heats. Their time of 6:47.562 was just four seconds off the pace of the sixth-fastest boat in the heats. Their semifinal is scheduled for 8:48 a.m. Schumann and Cail finished second in the Southeast Regionals.

The third Sarasota Crew entry to make the semifinals was the Women’s Youth 4x. The boat, captained by Julia Braz, earned the 12th and last qualifying spot, finishing in 6:55.203. However, the 12 qualifiers were tightly bunched on the clock. The Sarasota boat was only 4 seconds out of sixth and 6 seconds out of fifth. The entry’s semifinal is scheduled for 9:36 a.m.

One crew reached the Men’s Lightweight Youth 2x semifinal on Friday afternoon and finished with the fifth-fastest time in their semifinal. While there will not be a national title at stake in Sunday’s race, Patrick Watson and Kaden Bowles advanced to the B Final, which consists of the boats that finished 4-6 in the two semifinals. Watson and Bowles finished in a time of 7:05.199 in Friday afternoon’s semifinals, 5 1/2 seconds behind the third-place boat.

Six more Sarasota entries did not advance out of the heats and will compete in either the C or D finals Saturday afternoon. Overall, the Sarasota club qualified 43 rowers for the weekend.

The area’s other rowing club, Manatee County Youth Rowing, did not have an entry qualify. More than 1,700 athletes from more than 150 clubs and 30 states are competing in this weekend’s event.

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Four Sarasota entries reach semifinals at Nationals."