Hungry Eagle Indoor Sprints, Skyline High School
On Saturday Feb 28 four eager rowers from Saline attended the Hungry Eagle Indoor 2K Sprints at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. Since many of you were not there and may have never participated in this type of event I will share what we experienced.
When we arrived luckily we found a few other teammates: Megan Gregg, Zayn Al-Zahid and Nico Hays. Megan’s mother Sara was very helpful in telling us how this all worked since they have participated in a few other indoor races this winter and we have not. It’s quite an operation! The gym was set up with 10 rowing machines in a row all facing towards the bleachers. Behind each rowing machine was a chair for their coxswain. Behind all the machines was a screen showing the status for each of the machines.
The rowers were placed in heats depending on the event. They had everything from Middle School to Adult, 2K races and 4x500 relays. 15 clubs were represented. St John’s Jesuit High School from Toledo OH had the most entries (44) While 7 clubs had five or less participants. The event was advertised and events and heats were posted on Regatta Central Website. Throughout the day, 10 rowers at a time competed. The audience could observe the rowing techniques and monitor the screen showing rowers name, club team, times, and progression during each race. Nico and Zayn rowed Men’s Varsity, Megan and Eddie Pfannes rowed as Novices. Megan, Nico and Eddie’s dads served as their coxswains while Eddie served as Zayn’s. It was good to see our teammates and their families supporting and encouraging each other.
Although everyone did very well, Eddie Pfannes was the only one to receive a medal with a 7:20.1 time (earning bronze). We were proud of each of our rowers!
We learned a few things we will remember for next time…
-
We need to do a better job watching for, and sharing opportunities like this during the off season. Kudos to Megan and her family for seeking out and participating in events on their own this winter.
-
We need to encourage more team members to participate. It’s more fun when we do it together. Encouraging and rooting on team members helps each athlete work harder and perform better.
Check out the results from todays Hungry Eagle Indoor Sprints.
Thanks to Heidi Pfannes for the photos and text.
