The Strokes' victories were an all-out effort by a group of girls and boys whose goal all year was to win at Regionals and earn a trip to the U.S. Rowing National Invitational in Cincinnati, June 5-6. This year, the Oakland Strokes will be represented by the boys varsity eight, girls varsity eight and girls varsity eight lightweight crews. In Cincinnati, these rowers will face the fastest crews from around the country.

Varsity Girls
The performance by all the varsity boats, coupled with the novice girls efforts, gave Oakland Strokes the overall girls team title, ahead of Marin and Capital Crew. The team trophy is a great compliment to the hard work the coaches and girls have put in this season. As coach Derek Byrnes has said throughout the year, the first boat went faster because the girls were pushed by the girls in the junior varsity boat, who in turn were being pushed by the third varsity, etc. It was a very synergistic effort by each rower, both as an individual, and as a member of the team.

On May 8, the Oakland Strokes girls varsity eight took the gold by defeating nemesis Marin, which had beaten the Strokes by two seconds in their last two encounters after losing to the Strokes earlier in the season. After both boats dominated their respective qualifying heats, the stage was set for classic encounter in the final. Oakland and Marin drew adjacent lanes for the final, ensuring that the crews would "feel" each other over the 2,000-meter course.

After 500 meters the Strokes were ahead by half a boat length. As they had in the past, Marin made a move between 500 and 1,000 meters, a tactic that had given them leads, and ultimately wins, in each of the last two meetings. This time, however, Oakland responded and opened its lead at the halfway mark at 1,000 meters. Although they tried, the Marin rowers could not catch the Strokes over the final half of the course, as Oakland won by a boat length. Capital of Sacramento was a distant third. Marin, which had won the previous weekend against the best crews in the Pacific Northwest, is considered one of the fastest crews in the country.

As it has been all season, the varsity eight was stroked by junior Lauren Hofmayer (Miramonte High School) and coxed by sophomore Ariel Frost of College Preparatory. Rowing with Hofmayer were Sarah Moore (seven seat, junior, Piedmont High), Taryn O'Connell (six seat, sophomore, Carondelet), Emilee Johnson (five seat, senior, Connecting Waters Continuation), Ashley Jones (four seat, junior, Skyline), Joanna Jacob (three seat, junior, Berkeley High), Katie Sherman (two seat, senior, Piedmont and team co-captain), and Alana Kopke (bow, senior, Piedmont). For Kopke and Sherman this was their second win at regionals, and the upcoming trip to Cincinnati will be a return for these two girls who competed there as sophomores.

On May 9, in the four-person boat with coxswain Hofmayer, Frost, Johnson, Jones and Jacob far outdistanced the field to take home their second gold medals of the weekend.

The junior varsity eight took home the silver in their race and the third varsity eight took home the gold in the 3V race. The fourth varsity boat took the silver in the 3V race, nosing out Marin's 3V boat.

Oakland is the defending national champion in the lightweight eight, an event that requires that each of the rowers weigh less than 130 pounds. However, due to graduation and injuries, the Strokes had few lightweight rowers this year and had to call on a freshman novice to fill the boat to race at regionals. The lightweights were sprinkled throughout the varsity boats during the season and had little time rowing together as a unit. Despite these challenges, the lightweight eight rowers dominated the field at Lake Natoma and will return to Cincinnati to defend their crown.

Emily Gibson (senior, Head Royce) was the coxswain. Elissa Malmquist (senior, Campolindo) stroked the boat from the starboard side. Following her were Victoria Peckham (seven seat, junior, Piedmont), Josie Morgan (six seat, junior, Oakland Tech), Laura Gerhardt (five seat, junior, Piedmont), Laura Huppert (four seat, sophomore, Piedmont), Megan Mills (three seat, junior, Bishop O'Dowd), Claire Compton (two seat, freshman, Bentley), and Rebekah Kharrazi (bow, junior, Alameda Community Learning).

Varsity Boys
The Oakland Strokes boys varsity eight stroked to gold in a tightly-contested race. The varsity boys, at 6:10.27, beat St. Ignatius by 2.5 seconds; Capitol Crew took third place in 6:17.9. The Oakland Strokes boat was coxed by Alysha Kooji (Miramonte) and rowed by Johnny Viel (Piedmont), Anthony Fahden (Acalanes), Roman Rezanowicz (St. Joseph Notre Dame), Matt King (Piedmont), Pete Collister (Albany), Sam Baum (Berkeley), Rudy Gustafson (Berkeley) and Josh Sowick (Piedmont).

The boys junior varsity eight made a strong late-race move on third-place Capitol Crew only to barely miss and finish fourth in 6:39.4.

"If the race had been 200 meters longer, we could have taken them," rower David Houska said.

As it is, the junior varsity boys have had a very successful season and have built a solid core of rowers for next season.

"We're looking forward to next year," Houska said optimistically.

The Strokes junior varsity boat was coxed by Zach Vlahos (Piedmont), and rowed by Leif Andre (Miramonte), Andrew Ratcliffe (Piedmont), Dan O'Connell (De La Salle), Houska (Head-Royce), Ross Goodwin (Miramonte), Chris Arth (Alameda), Alex Baker-Lubin (St. Mary's), and Scott Davidson (Golden Gate Apple).

Novice Girls
Oakland Strokes girls novice A boat won the trophy for best girls novice eight. Their strong victory in the qualifying heat was equaled by their strong first-place finish in the championship race. The "A" is the race of the "best" crews from each club. The Strokes crew consisted of Alaizah Koorji (coxswain), Heather Lynch (stroke), Mary Ellen King (seven seat), Pia Hauch (six), Kate Hruska (five), Kaitlin Davis (four), Laura Peers (three), Claire Swanback (two), and Gennie Johnson (bow).

The novice girls race of the day was the championship race of the "B" boats. In qualifying heats, Oakland's three novice B boats qualified for the six-boat B final. Novice girls head coach Beth Anderson said that she has never had all of her teams make the finals at the same time (four of four novice girls boats included the three boats in the B final and the one boat in the A race final). It was a thrilling end to a season, and a fantastic Mother's Day treat. In the medal competition, the battle raged between the first three boats, Oakland BA, Los Gatos, and Oakland BB, as they charged along the course. Oakland BA controlled the course taking the gold with a first place finish of 8:01: Strokes' BB earned the Bronze with a third-place time of 8:17 Oakland's BC boat came in sixth with a time of 8:45.

The girls novice BA boat was crewed by Francesca Chang (coxswain), Claire Compton (stroke), Stephanie Bohar (seven), Emily Lewis (six), Katie Leach (five), Bronwyn McGinley-Bradle (four), Laura Pierce (three), Franny Brogan (two) and Jessica Toda (bow).

The girls novice BB boat was crewed by Brittany Yung (coxswain), Bianca Molfino (stroke), Lila Miller (seven), Sarah Schiller (six), Becca Kuensting (five), Becca Girtler (four), Dakota Coleman (three), Sabrina Thompson (two) and Lara Keihner (bow).

The girls novice BC boat was crewed by Carla Medina (coxswain), Hayley Andrews (stroke), Maggie Hennessey (seven), Meaghan Haley (six), Grainne Hebeler (five), Elena McDonald (four), Rose Shapiro (three), Alison Pretlow (two) and Jeana Alayaay (bow).

Novice Boys
The novice boys finished their season with some intense racing. Finishing their undefeated season, the A boat won the championship, and the B boat took the bronze medal in its division. The A boat had their qualifying heat at 10:40 a.m., easily taking the Heat 1 title with a time of 6:39.4. Also advancing from their heat was Marin Rowing Association (6:50.2) and the hometown Capital Crew (6:51.0).

In their 4:20 p.m. final, the Strokes got an early lead, and maintained it throughout the race. They took the championship with a time of 6:40.3. San Diego (6:44.0) took the silver, while Los Gatos (6:44.5) took the bronze. Marin, Pacific and Capital took fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

The A boat was coxed by Drew Joseph (Piedmont), and was stroked by Harald Vaernes (O'Dowd). From seven to bow were Raphael Peterson (Piedmont), Zack Laher (Miramonte), Sam Fishman (Piedmont), Pete Collister (Albany), David Hofmayer (Miramonte), Cole Masse (El Cerrito), and Mark Gallegos (San Ramon Valley).

In Heat 2 of the novice B race, Oakland won easily with a time of 7:08.8. Also advancing from their heat was Marin (7:13.8) and Newport (7:14.6). In their 3:50 p.m. final, the Strokes medaled, taking the bronze with a time of (7:11.8).

The B boat got off to a very fast start but could not maintain its lead. Oakland finished behind Marin (6:55.1) and Los Gatos (6:56.3). Taking fourth, fifth, and sixth were Capital, San Diego, and Newport, respectively.

Oakland's B boat was coxed by Sara Heetderks (Miramonte), and was stroked by Andre Ospital-Cone (Campolindo). From seven to bow seats were Chris Kohne (Piedmont), Shane Thygeson (Piedmont), Ben Rockwell (Campolindo), Mike Brenner (Acalanes), Chris Welter (Piedmont), Mac Farrell (Miramonte), and Billy Hughes (Miramonte).

The Strokes C boat was entered in the third varsity race Saturday. Although the Strokes rowed well, they came in fifth place. The boat was coxed again by Joseph, and was stroked by Brett Yount (Alameda). It included novice rowers Sheldon Silvera (Miramonte), Nico Wrenn (Piedmont), Jeff Biestman (Monte Vista), Damian Hall, and Eric Holgerson (both St. Joseph Notre Dame).

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