Regatta Notes: Saturday’s focus will be on the novice events, with heats in the varsity four and second varsity eight mixed in. Sunday will primarily feature races for those who advanced from Friday, and also racing in the first varsity eight. Several levels of finals will be held, including the main race for boats winning their heats, a “petite” or consolation final, and a third final for those who didn’t qualify for the others.
Lumberjacks Notes: Humboldt State rowing received difficult news last week regarding one of its stellar athletes. Katie Hemen, a junior who has been a key contributor to the varsity four crew all spring, is battling the reoccurrence of a serious illness and will not be participating in the remaining competitions. “Katie has been a big part of our success,” HSU head coach Robin Meiggs said. “We’d like to ask the community to join us in sending her all of the positive energy and prayers we can muster.”
Having a week free from racing has helped the Lumberjacks recover both mentally and physically from a tough outing at the NCRC Championships, held April 19. “We had incredible practices the past week,” Meiggs said. “The bright part of having such a poor performance was how it got us to focus and make progress.”
The Jacks will devote some of the week to seat racing, again looking for the best combination of athletes in a given boat. They’ll also put more emphasis on the lightweight crew’s success.