PORTLAND, Ore. – The Lewis & Clark Pioneers opened their 2024 fall season with the Charlie Brown Regatta, hosting three competitors on their home course on the Willamette River. The regatta is named for former coach and alum Charlie Brown, who was instrumental in gaining varsity status for the rowing team in the 1990's.

THE BASICS
FLIGHT 1
9:30 am: Novice 4+, second place finish
9:40 am: Women's Varsity 8+, A boat first place finish
9:40 am: Women's Varsity 8+, B boat second place finish
9:50 am: Men's Varsity 8+ Time Trial

FLIGHT 2
11:00 am: Women's Varsity 4+, A boat first place finish
11:00 am: Women's Varsity 4+, B boat third place finish
11:00 am: Women's Varsity 4+, C boat second place finish
11:10 am: Men's 2x/2- Time Trial
11:30 am: Novice 8+, second place finish

HOW IT HAPPENED
Conditions were overcast and rainy, with no wind and flat water along the warm-up route to the start line and on the racecourse. 

The Novice 4+ was the first race of the day with the Pioneers facing off with the Pacific Boxers in a head-to-head 750m sprint race. The Pioneers finished 23 seconds behind the Boxers with a time of 3:54. Max Baker was at the helm for the Pioneers, with Sunny Greenblum in stroke, Emma Wind in three, Amber Hayes in two, and Chance Inouye in the bow.

The varsity races were 3k in length and the Women's Varsity 8+ was the first group to race down the full course. Lewis & Clark and Pacific Lutheran both raced an A and B eight. The Pioneers A boat finished in first with a time of 11:35, followed by the Lewis & Clark B boat in second with a time of 12:30. Ella Radvany coxed the first varsity 8+, with Mariah Schafhausen in stroke, Roma Taylor in seven, Sadie Meredith-Andrews in six, Libby Barrese in five, freshman Clare Kimmel in four, Lily Snider in three, Charlie Bastunskiy in two, and Zoe Mitchell in the bow. In the B Boat, Morgan Anderson sat in the driver's seat, with Carson Cook in stroke, Nora Barnard in seven, Sydney Case in six, Lyndsay Morris in five, Jocelyn Brandon in four, freshman-novice Carmen Aaronson in three, Ella Shanava in two, and Masha Glazneva the bow.

The Lewis & Clark men's eight participated in a time trial in the third race of the day in order to prepare for the Pioneers' upcoming race at Head of the Lake in Seattle. The eight made it down the course in a time of 10:35.1. Sophie Homolka was at the helm for the Pioneers, with Lewis Grimes in stroke, Devon Hall in seven, Eliot Woods in six, Sam Hall in five, senior captain Caleb Novotny in four, Paul Kelly in three, Gavin O'Loughlin in two, and Jackson Sheire in the bow.

Flight two of racing kicked off with the women's varsity 4+ race. Lewis & Clark raced three boats, with the Pioneers sweeping the event in first, second, and third. The A boat finished in first place with a time of 12:30, just seven seconds ahead of the C boat who moved up in the starting order to finish in 12:37. Radvany was in the coxswain seat again for the A boat, with Schafhausen in stroke, Barrese in three, Meredith-Andrews in two, and Mitchell in the bow. Homolka helmed the C boat, with Bastunskiy in stroke, Snider in three, Barnard in two, and Taylor in the bow. The B boat crossed the line in 12:58, three seconds ahead of Pacific Lutheran and 11 seconds ahead of Pacific. Anderson was in the driver's seat, with Cook in stroke, Case in three, Brandon in two, and Morris in the bow.

The men's team took to small boats for the second heat of flight two, racing two doubles and three pairs in another time trial. The first boat to cross the line was a pair rowed by Hall and Kelly, in a time of 11:52.3. They were followed by Grimes and Hall, also rowing a pair, who crossed the line 10 seconds later with a time of 12:02.1. Third place went to a mixed double with Kimmel and Jackson, who made it down the course in 12:30.6. Another pair with O'Loughlin and Alex Skiles took the fourth place spot with a time of 13:15.3 while the second double with Novotny and Woods closed out the round, crossing the line in 13:24.6.

The regatta closed out with a novice 8+'s race, a 750-meter dash with three boats across from Lewis & Clark, Pacific Lutheran, and Pacific. Pacific was again victorious in the novice event with the top time of 3:21 and were followed by the Pioneers, who came in second with a time of 3:27. Baker in the driver's seat, with Aaronson in eight, Wind in seven, Chaszar Waldron in six, Inouye in five, Alany Padilla Camacho in four, Ana Cabrera in three, Hayes in two, and Greenblum in the bow. This was Waldron, Padilla Camacho, and Cabrera's first race of the contest. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• 10 Pioneers from the novice squad made their college debut
• The majority of the varsity team doubled up to race twice, with 5 novice rowers doubling up
• This is the second year that the Pioneers have hosted the Charlie Brown Regatta on their home river, after a six year hiatus of the race
• The women's varsity 4+ and men's small boat races were the largest event of the day with five boats each
• The trophy ceremony was a highlight of the regatta as hand-painted pumpkins designed by the Lewis & Clark team were given out as awards

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pioneers travel to Seattle next weekend for the Head of the Lake Regatta to close out racing for the fall.