PNRA/Mercer opened its spring racing season by hosting Mercer Lake Sprints on April 16 and 17. The regatta drew 45 rowing and sculling clubs to compete with nearly 2,500 competitors, providing an opportunity for varsity and novice rowers to see how they stack up against their competition after a long winter of indoor conditioning and training.

PNRA/Mercer came away with five gold medals, six silver medals and four bronze medals in total.

The boys’ gold medals were primarily in the varsity 8 plus coxswain events; PNRA/Mercer won gold medals in 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th varsity 8 events. The boys straight 4 (no coxswain)  also placed first for a gold medal. The boys also earned silver and bronze medals in the varsity pair event and a silver medal in the 2^nd novice 8 plus coxswain.

The girl’s straight 4 (no coxswain) edged out rival Connecticut Boat Club to win the gold medal.  The girls lightweight athletes won a pair of silver medals in the varsity girl’s 8 with coxswain and the varsity girl’s 4 with coxswain.   The girls varsity 8 with coxswain and girl’s 2^nd varsity 4 with coxswain earned bronze medals in their events.  The girl’s 2^nd novice 8 with coxswain picked up a silver medal and the 3^rd novice 8 with coxswain earned a bronze medal.

The race line-ups for the Mercer Boats were:

Girls Straight 4 – Katie Lustig (Council Rock North), Laila Shehab (Hopewell Valley), Mia Barkenbush (West Windsor Plainsboro South), and Rachel Mumau (Millstone Township)

Girls Lightweight 8  – Coxswain  Sydney Holgado (Robbinsville), Sheila Kennedy-Moore (Princeton), Jacqueline Armetta (Villa Joseph Marie), Jenna Kugel (Montgomery), Kathryn Miller (Steinert), Elise Gorberg (West Windsor Plainsboro North), Eileen Hu (West Windsor Plainsboro South), Caitlin Cleary (Princeton) and Sara Hansen (West Windsor Plainsboro South).

Girl’s Lightweight 4 – Coxswain Sydney Holgado (Robbinsville), Sheila Kennedy-Moore (Princeton), Jacqueline Armetta (Villa Joseph Marie),  Lauren Miller (Steinert) and Catherine Vinch-Buck (Pennington)

Girl’s Varsity 8 – Coxswain Colleen Gillis (Freehold Township), Eileen Hu (West Windsor Plainsboro South), Bridget Parker (Princeton), Rachel Mumau (Millstone Township), Mia Barkenbush (West Windsor Plainsboro South), Laila Shebab (Hopewell Valley), Katherine Lustig (Council Rock North), Sara Hansen (West Windsor Plainsboro South) and Caitlin Cleary (Princeton)

Girls 2nd Varsity 4 – Coxswain Caroline Galati (West Windsor Plainsboro South), Kieran Wild (Council Rock North), Ciara DeVenuto-Wyeth (Pennsbury), Sarah Closser (Princeton) and Glorianna Perrote (Monroe)

Girls 2nd Novice 8 – Coxswain Ellie Micallef (Robbinsville), Eveline Enthoven (John Witherspoon), Yingyi Liang (Princeton International), Hiran Shyamsundar (Community Middle), Olivia Andersen (John Witherspoon), Eileen Yang (Community Middle), Morgan Linsley (Princeton) and Mary O’Boyle

Girls 3rd Novice 8 – Coxswain Paige Hansbury (Pennsbury), Abigail McAleer (Newtown Middle), Amy Garry (Pennington), Drishti Devani (Thomas Grover), Sunny Hu (Thomas Grover), Caroline Sullivan(Princeton Charter), Milana Asadpour, Emaan Anwar (Princeton Charter) and Parkman Moseley (Princeton Day)

Boy’s Straight 4 – Jack Gallagher (Council Rock North High School), Kevin Borup (South Brunswick), Carter Levine (Princeton High School), and  John Tanguay (Hopewell Valley)

Boy’s 2nd Varisty 8 – Coxswain Sarah Brune (FLVS), Andrew Moss (Princeton), Will Grimes (Hopewell Valley) , Magnus Andersen (Princeton), Albert Bergeron (Hun), Christopher Silva (Hopewell Valley), Julius Ferenc (Ranney), Tyler Harris (West Windsor Plainsboro North) and David Pe (West Windsor Plainsboro North)

Boy’s 3rd Vasrsity 8 – Coxswain Rohan Patel(West Windsor Plainsboro North), Dana Gajewski (Princeton), Chase Panfili (Lawrence Middle), Sullivan Hughes (Princeton), Kyle Sutera (Burlington Township), Brian Radvany (Princeton Academy), Evan Kinter (Steinert), Enzo Couillens (Hopewell Valley) and Brian Karp (Hopewell Valley)

Boy’s 4th Varsity 8 – Coxswain Anubhav Suri, Brandon Chow, Spencer Stengle, David Dortch, Morolayo Ayodele, J.P. Brown (Hopewell Valley), Robert Rittenhouse, Chris Gibson and  Brandon DePaulis (Hun)

Boy’s Varsity Pairs –  Grant Barthelmes (Ranney)and Jason Fleurial (Princeton); Daniel Stoddard (West Windsor Plainsboro South) and Andrew Hickey (Notre Dame)

Boy’s 2nd Novice 8 – coxswain Diana Higgins (Notre Dame), Jonathan Ignarski (Robbinsville), Curran Folino (Wilberforce School), Andrew Yan (Princeton Charter), Nick Casilli (South Brunswick), Conall O’Neill (Chapin), Andrew Gosek (Holy Ghost), Darin Khan ((Community Middle) and Jackson Ikenberry (John Witherspoon)