PCRA Caps Successful Winter with Breakout Performance at the 37th St Valentine’s Day Massacre
After a great fall season, PCRA’s athletes went indoors in November, retreating to their indoor training facility at the YMCA in New Rochelle. The last 10 weeks have been very productive for our rowers, who have achieved a lot of technical improvements and fitness gains from the hands on coaching allowed by the ergometers. Our Winter season culminated with the 37th annual St Valentine’s Day Massacre, a indoor rowing regatta. After a winter of intense training, our girls, boys and masters, all had a very successful Massacre.
The Masters rowers won two events, with Rob Constable qualifying for a free trip to compete at the World Indoor Rowing Championships based on his performance in the Mens Veteran A category. Julie Hansen won the Womens Veteran A category.
The Girls U14 division saw a clean sweep of the podium by PCRA’s athletes. Maya Spunberg of Pelham Middle School won the event by three seconds ahead of Kathryn Alexander and Molly Bidwell. These young ladies have a bright future ahead of them at PCRA!
The girls performance was highlighted by Megan Samuelson with a big personal best to win a hammer in the Girls U17 event. After a hard battle in the first thousand with City Island’s Genesis Bussey, Samuelson moved through to take the lead for good in the third quarter, and held on the rest of the way. The PCRA team performance was underscored by the best team average erg score performance in 5 years!
The PCRA boys team had a similarly impressive performance, with their best team average in at least 6 years, and a breakout personal best from Julian Callegari to win the Boys U17 event, with Alec Sirkin taking third. PCRA had two athletes nearly tie, with Matias Facciuto just edging out Rob Schetlick for a strong podium finish in the premier U19 event. This marks the first time in a long time that PCRA had so many boys in the “under 7” club!
PCRA hopes to bring the good winter momentum on to the water this spring, with its on water rowing beginning on March 5th. We have recently expanded our coaching staff to include Scott Ramsey, former Division 1 Head Coach at Columbia University. PCRAs spring season is now open for registration. Please reach out to admin@pcrarowing.com with any questions about signing up your son or daughter.
PCRA operates out of its beautiful boathouse in Westchester County’s Glen Island Park. PCRA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization led by a volunteer board. One hundred percent of all fees collected by PCRA are committed to maintaining and enhancing the program. PCRA offers need-based financial assistance to committed participants.
