BRIDGEPORT, Pa. – The Navesink River Rowing Competitive Youth Crew and a baker’s dozen of NRR adult scullers traveled Sunday, Sept. 28, for the first regatta on the fall racing schedule – King’s Head Regatta on the Schuylkill River.
They returned with a fistful of medals and the Exelon Power Trophy as well as many personal bests.
NRR’s race day got off to a strong start by the Boy’s A quad. The four-rower crew of Max Kelly, 16, of Colts Neck; Leor Golan, 17, of Ocean; Tommy Johnston, 16, of Fair Haven; and Erik Bovino, 18, of Brielle rowed to a first-place finish in the Men’s High School/Youth Varsity/SR 4x event, covering the 2.7-mile course in 15 minutes, 57.36 seconds. For their winning efforts, the boys were awarded gold medals and the Exelon Power Trophy.
Two NRR girl’s crews also medaled. Emma Miller, 17, of Rumson and Emily Unsinn, 16, of Fair Haven won silver medals for their second-place finish in the Women’s High School/Youth Varsity 2x event. Also placing second and winning silver medals in the Women’s High School/Youth Varsity/SR 4X event was the Girls A quad of Blake Portmann, 17, of Holmdel; Mollie Tobin, 16, of Wayside; Jessica Osgoodby, 16 of Avon; and Courtney Meissner, 16 of Tinton Falls.
Adult competitive rowers Mark Malone of Rumson and John Crilly of Shrewsbury won a silver medal in the men’s senior masters 2x (27-54) event. Linda Ensor of Red Bank and Denise Lavallee of Jackson were silver medal winners in the women’s senior masters 2X race.
Bridging the age gap and snagging a gold medal in the Parent/Child 2X event were Red Bank’s Sean Byrnes and his daughter, Maeve. Sean won the same event two years ago rowing with his son, Aidan.
The intergenerational nature of rowing wasn’t lost on head youth coach Ian Bamberger and neither was the joy of winning. “It feels great to be part of the Navesink River Rowing family,” he said 24 hours after watching his crews’ hard work pay off. “It is truly a privilege to help lead our athletes to victory.”
Bamberger had three additional youth crews competing at King’s Head, including several young scullers who had never raced before. The youth crews were:
- Boys B Quad: Zach Williams, 16, of Rumson; Kasey McFadden, 15, of Aberdeen; Kennard Johnston, 16, of Eatontown and Jack Gallagher, 16, of Colts Neck
- Girl’s B Quad with had a fifth place finish in the Women’s High School/Youth Varsity/SR 4X event with Victoria Pierce, 16, of Shrewsbury; Sarah Harmer, 17, of Wall; Danielle Terek, 16, of Red Bank and Valerie Castano, 17, of Ocean Township
- Girl’s C Quad which had a fourth-place finish in the same event with Maddie Bonavita, 15, of Middletown, Tait Algayer, 16, of Middletown, Brooke Mason, 17, of Spring Lake and Kellie Lemoine, 17, of Red Bank.
Other NRR Masters Crews and their events were:
- Charles Gross and King Sorenson in the Men’s Veteran Masters (55 and up) 2x;
- Sandra Talarico and Lynn Clarkin the Women’s Senior Masters (27-54) 2X event
- Atikah Ismail, Susan Toscano, Linda Decelle and Trish Russoniello in the Women’s Masters 4X
