CGA lightweight senior 4+ crew wins national championship in New Jersey
Courtesy culverathetics.com
CULVER — The Culver Rowing – Girls Lightweight Senior 4+ crew returned to campus Sunday aboard Culver fire trucks with sirens blaring as a crowd gathered at Logansport Gate to cheer the new national champions.
The crew of Kiersten Blacker ’26, Jessica Kang ’25, Nevaeh Navarre ’26, Kate Fortune ’26, Brynne O’Hare ’26 (coxswain) and Helen Sweetland ’26 (alternate) won the Scholastic Rowing Association of America (SRAA) National Championship racing on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, New Jersey, on Sunday.
Coach Kerry Hassall said there is no lightweight event in the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Association (MSRA) Championship, so the team didn’t know what to expect at the nationals. The crew had strong showings throughout the season in the Second Varsity 4+, including a silver medal at MSRA Championships against open weight rowers which allowed them to petition for an entry at SRAA.
In the preliminary heats, the crew finished with the fastest time, so they were seeded first among the six teams in the final.
“It was a big test of grit and whether they could repeat that performance. They’ve been working on some technical changes the past two weeks and we really saw them transfer in the heat and final,” Hassall said.
The Eagles won with a time of 5:51.86. The George School finished second at 5:54.45 and Mainland finished third at 5:57.32.
This marked the first time CGA entered in the lightweight category and the first time CGA has medaled or won in any event at SRAA. CGA finished fourth in the Varsity 4+ event under Hassall in 2022 and 2023. They didn’t compete at SRAA National Championship last year.
