Pennsauken, New Jersey - Rockland Rowing's Gabriele Welp, a junior at the Immaculate Heart Academy, captured bronze in the girl's varsity single sculls at the Scholastic Rowing Association of America's 80th annual National Championship Regatta on Saturday on the Cooper River. Races were contested over 1500 meters.
The girl's varsity single sculls had 16 entries. Welp finished first in the heat, second in the semi-final and ultimately took third-place in the grand final with a time of 6:14.220 behind second-place Schuylerville (6:12.596) and first-place Horace Mann (6:07.523).
The regatta is an invitational regatta for scholastic rowing teams where crews are invited based on their performance at a qualifying championship. Regatta rules allow for rowers without stand alone high school rowing teams, such as Immaculate Heart Academy, to petition for entry to represent their school in the single sculls. Welp's petition to the SRAA National Championship Regatta was accepted on the basis of showing substantive speed this season. Welp won USRowing's Mid-Atlantic Regional Youth Championship Regatta on May 13.
Next up, Welp will rejoin her Rockland Rowing teammates for the USRowing Youth National Championships in Rancho Cordova, California on June 8-10.
