Greensboro, NC – A week of constant strong winds finally abated on Saturday morning to bring a glorious morning for rowing on Lake Brandt for the annual cross-town Middle School Race between High Point and Greensboro Crew.
The classic match up between the two clubs began in 2017 when Greensboro Crew won the inaugural race.
Jordan Lake Rowing Club also joined in the fun at this year’s classic match up, bringing an all boys middle school eight and a number of upper class men rowers. The high school rowers were mixed with High Point – Greensboro rowers via a random draw and all enjoyed a series of three separate sprint races.
The middle school rowers raced two races over about 800 meters. The first was to determine the cross-town champion between High Point and Greensboro. The second would see how a combined High Point – Greensboro Crew would fare against Jordan Lake, whose crew would race in both.
Race One
Jordan Lake 2 minutes 26 seconds
High Point 2:29 ~ winner of the cross-town race.Â
Greensboro ‘A’ 2:42
Greensboro ‘B’ 2:45
Race Two
Combined HPG ‘A’ 2 minutes 22 seconds
Jordan Lake 2:30
HPG ‘B’ 2:33
Greensboro 2:51
Greensboro and High Point are now one win a piece in the annual Middle School Race, which has become a focal point of the spring racing calendar.
“Today was all about making it fun,” said Coach Gene Kininmonth after the race. “But it is also important to realize that athletic competition is also planting seeds of greatness in the hearts and minds of these young rowers, some of whom have only been rowing a few weeks. Regardless of whether a rower won or lost today, they each experienced strong emotional reactions to competition that will help build on the resilience of their character.”
Kininmonth, who established both rowing clubs, says events such as these are formative moments in young rowers’ lives that “many will look back on and cherish later.”
