Los Gatos women conquer rough waters for crew win
By Dick Sparrer
The water may have been rough, but the women of the Los Gatos Rowing Club made things look easy when they pulled out a victory at the San Diego Crew Classic over the April 6-7 weekend.
The women's varsity eight finished second in their heat on Saturday to earn a place in the grand final a day later, then rowed to a victory despite high winds and choppy waters in San Diego.
Coxswain Gina Garibotti coaxed Rachel Jeffers, Ali Seders, Katie Ball, Alison DePalma, Jen Dowrie, Nicole Francher, Maureen Wheelehan and Danielle McFall to pull to the impressive victory. Alternates Brooke Robertson and Ashley Vannie were other members of the championship squad.
The high school athletes competed with masters (over 18) and college teams at the San Diego Crew Classic.
The Los Gatos men's varsity eight crew also performed well in San Diego. The Gatos men were fourth in their heat, but came back a day later to claim second place in the petite finals.
Mark Braatz, Mike Wagstaff, John Peterson, Graham Watts, Jeremy Moultrup, Kevin Lorell, Spencer Chin and Tim Worley were crew members, and teamed with coxswain Eric Adamson to claim second.
The men's junior varsity team nailed a second in their heat. The rowers were Brent Pearse, Andy McCoy, Ben Dickinson, Blake Gourley, Alex Kheriotis, Chris Stanley, Nick Edwards-Muller and Andrew Willheim, and the coxswain was Kevin Walsh.
In other action, the men's master team finished second in the "F" final with an impressive 6:54 effort, and the men's open team won their heat in 6:08.
The teams of the Los Gatos Rowing Club competed against many of the West Coast's elite rowers in San Diego.
Los Gatos women's coaches are Nathan Cravens, a Gatos graduate, and Bob Cowan.
Weislaw "Vees" Kujda is the men's coach. Kujda was a member of the Polish National Team 1972-84, and finished sixth in the 1980 Olympic Games. He has more than 30 years of rowing experience.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
