SARASOTA, FL JUNE 15: Everett’s U-17 girls advanced to the A Final of the USRowing Youth National Championship and finished 7th place after notching a 3rd place time in the semi-finals.
Everett Rowing Association executive director, Jon Campana tells EverettPost.com, “they are the 7th fastest women’s U17 4+ in the United States!” The four rowers, Kayleigh Baker, Kiri Withington, Adeline Palmiter, Ruby Eagan-Heffernan and coxswain, Aurora O’Brien, are now returning to Everett for their final days of school following the national competition in Florida.
The enthused Campana added, “I think what really struck me about this particular group of athletes was their resilience, adaptability, and heart. They adapted to every challenge thrown at them this weekend and did it with a whole lot of joy, determination, and teamwork. We couldn’t be more proud of them!”
ERA’s U-17 crew included two under-classmen rowers who were competing for the first time against older athletes and yet the Everett 4+ advanced all the way to the national final. One of those under-classmen, 9th grader, Addy Palmiter, tells EverettPost.com, in the A Final, “while the rowing itself could have been better, we put forth our best effort and are pretty proud of what we did.” Palmiter summed up the whirlwind national competition, saying,” We really loved this trip. It was very exciting.”
Palmiter said last week’s stormy weather that pushed back the expected time-trial and semi-final races shifted the ERA U-17s away from the more intense heat to competition slots that were later in the day or earlier in the day. “That energized us”, Palmiter said, noting they passed a competing boat at the end of the time trial to improve their position for the semi-final.
During the A Final, she says the heat caught up to them in their 7th place finish. Considering that Palmiter’s only been rowing crew for 10 months–she started with ERA last August–and teammate Eagen-Heffernan is an 8th grader, the four-person crew accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time.
“None of us missed a practice,” Palmiter underscored. “We all worked so hard this past season. When we came together we could lock in.”