Sisters rower sees action at NCAA championships

Kelsey White got a taste of the competition at the highest level of women's rowing at the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, with the varsity Willamette University boat on the Cooper River in New Jersey, May 28-30.

She liked it.

"We were racing against JV (junior varsity) and varsity boats all mixed together," said the freshman varsity rower. "Some of the JV boats were incredible and beat many of the varsity. It was awesome to be surrounded by some of the best female athletes in the country."

Willamette University's boat came in 11th out of the 16 boats in the competition, after some exciting drama in three races.

The competition started poorly for Willamette University in the first race on Friday, May 28.

"We got last in our heat in our first race," white said.

The boat recorded a time of 7:30.31 in the heat, over a 2,000-meter course that "seems like forever," White said.

The poor start motivated the rowers to dig in.

"That was frustrating, so we had a lot more confidence and determination and focus going into the second race," White said.

The team pushed their time to 6:58:27, overtaking three boats and sliding into third at the finish line by a margin of .3 seconds.

"We went from sixth place to third place over the course of 1,000 meters," White said.

The rowers placed third behind Bates and Ithaca, earning a spot in the petite final.

"It was very, very exciting," White said. "The second race was probably the best race we've ever had."

The team went on to take fifth in the petite final.

"We were just happy to be in that race, and our placement wasn't really forefront in our minds," White said. "We just wanted to finish feeling like we did the best we could. We actually hit three geese with our oars in the middle of the race."

White's family attended the race, as did her early rowing partner, Bethanne Kronick, who introduced White to rowing on the waters of Suttle Lake.

"That was awesome," White said. "It was a complete surprise. I had no idea until she walked around the corner."

White is back home in Camp Sherman for the summer. She'll be out on Suttle Lake with Kronick again, training for fall racing, which starts in September.

The Willamette University team plans to be back at the NCAA championships next season.

"It's our goal to go back next year and take our JV team too," White said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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