Shelton, Etem Lead Charge into Finals for OKC

In rainy conditions with varying wind, the crews for tomorrow’s finals were decided on Otay Lake in Chula Vista for National Selection Regatta 2 and Non-Qualified Small Boat Olympic Trials.
In the men’s double sculls, the Penn Athletic Club / Potomac Boat Club composite entry of Willie Cowles and Stephen Whelpley advanced with a winning time of 6:31.584, followed by the Oklahoma City National High Performance Center entry of Ryan Shelton and Martin Etem with a time of 6:33.470. OKC's Pat Close and Max Goff finished in fourth and will race in tomorrow's B final.

Close and Goff

The second heat of the men’s double saw the USRowing Training Center-Chula Vista entry of Warren Anderson and Sam Stitt advance with a winning time of 6:26.153, followed in second by Craftsbury Sculling Center’s brothers Peter Graves and Thomas Graves in 6:28.682.

Shelton and Etem will race in the A Final of the Men's Double tomorrow morning at 9:10 AM.

In the lightweight women’s double sculls, Lake Union Boat Club’s entry of Ursula Grobler and Hillary Saeger won its semifinal in a time of 7:18.852. Finishing second was Pocock Rowing Center’s Katherine Robinson and Lindsey Hochman in a time of 7:21.153, followed in third by the composite entry from Vesper Boat Club / Penn Athletic Club of Jennifer Goldsack and Jennette Daley in 7:25.205.

In the second semifinal of the event, California Rowing Club’s entry of Julie Nichols and Kristin Hedstrom won in a time of 7:23.532. In second was USRowing Training Center-Oklahoma City's entry of Chelsea Smith and Michelle Sechser in 7:33.693. The final boat to qualify was the Long Beach Rowing Association crew of Sherri Kline and Rachel Stortvedt.


Smith and Sechser

Sechser and Smith will race in the A Final of the Lightweight Women's Double at 9:40 AM PST.