USRowing Adaptive Camp a Success in OKC

Athletes traveled to Oklahoma City last weekend to participate in the USRowing Adaptive Development Camp. The camp served to identify athletes throughout the country with National Team aspirations and prepare them for the National Team selection camp in July.

OKC Athletes Rise Together at NSR II

The Oklahoma City National High Performance Center sent three crews to West Windsor, NJ to compete at the 2nd National Selection Regatta on May 13.

Tom Peszek and Justin Stangel raced in the Men's pair event along with teammates Ryan Monaghan and Deaglan McEachern. Michelle Sechser and Erin Ruggieri competed in the lightweight women's double.

Despite battling illness throughout the regatta, Peszek and Stangel managed to place first in the B final for 7th place overall. The duo of Monaghan and McEachern, in their first race together, advanced to the A final in impressive fashion, finishing in 6th place.

The top seven pairs were invited to a National Team practice at Mercer Lake on May 15th for further selection. Each pair was placed in a coxless four combination based on NSR II rankings - leaving Peszek, Stangel, Monaghan, and McEachern with the opportunity join forces in a 2k race. Competing against some former Olympic and World Championship team members, the OKC four finished in second place.

Michelle Sechser and Erin Ruggieri placed 6th in the A Final of the Lightweight women's double.

OKC High Performance Athletes Participate in NSR 1

In an attempt to earn spots on this year's US National Team, OKCNHPC athletes had a successful showing at the first USRowing National Selection Regatta in New Jersey. Tom Peszek and Justin Stangel competed in the coxless pair while Pat Close and Ryan Monaghan competed in the single sculls event.

Amongst an impressive field of competitors, Peszek and Stangel won the B Final finishing 7th overall. Close and Monaghan placed 10th and 13th, respectively.  Peszek and Stangel also participated in the coxless four A final comprised of the top finishers in the coxless pair event combined into fours.  They and their boat mates won the race by 6 seconds.

Full results are available at powerhousetiming.com.

OKC High Performance Rower Among Nation's Fastest Women

Michelle Sechser broke 7 mins. on a 2k erg test, making her one of the fastest female rowers in the country. She can still remember her freshman year of high school when she couldn’t finish the one-mile warm-up run without walking, but you wouldn’t know that if you met Michelle Sechser today. The lightweight rower became one of the fastest women in the country when she broke seven minutes on a recent 2k erg test. “I’ve really come a long way - but it just goes to show that passion can trump logic,” said Sechser, who was accepted into the OKC National High Performance Center residency program in January. “I wanted to continue rowing after high school, but at 5’5” I was told I’d never make it in Division I rowing. Fortunately I found the University of Tulsa.” Sechser is finishing up grad school in Tulsa, and will soon be able to train full-time in Oklahoma City. “Because of my schedule, I’ve only been training in OKC on weekends. But in just 12 weeks of following the training program I dropped 14 seconds off my previous 2k record, pulling 6:59,” Sechser said. “My favorite part of this sport is racing. Training hard and being ready to race gives me a level of confidence I have never experienced in any other area of my life. I can’t wait to focus on rowing the 1x (single) and see how far I can go. I am so lucky – the coaches, teammates and RIVERSPORT staff have been so supportive. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but there is nothing else I’d rather do right now.”

OKC HPC Athletes, Pat Close and Michelle Sechser, in front the Devon Boathouse construction site on April 2nd.