Rowing club paddles to national titles

The Augusta Rowing Club continues to forge the city's reputation as the Rowing capital of the South.

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Last weekend, at the USRowing National Championships in Cherry Hill, N.J., the Augusta Rowing Club Women's Intermediate double sculls team of Abby Loughrey and Missy Fiesler captured a national title, while several other Augusta boats also captured medals.

Trials for the 2003 World Championships were held in conjunction with the nationals, with the Augusta Rowing Club's lightweight quadruple sculls A boat of Mike Aller, Tim Larson, Shawn Stephenson, and Stephen Arthur-Wong taking first place.

With the victory, the crew qualified for the FISA world Championships on Aug. 24-31 in Milan, Italy.

In the same event, Augusta's B boat of Judah Rome, Paul Guthrie, John Kennel and Gavin Frase finished third. The crew will represent the United States at the Pan American Games, which begin Monday in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

"At the U.S. Nationals every summer, there are various groups there competing for a national title, and for our A boat, it was their trial for worlds, so there was a lot of pressure to perform," said Augusta Rowing Club coach Sean Hall, who left with his team for the Pan Am Games on Wednesday. "They came through."

A pair of local women also are headed to the Pan Am Games - Cindy Bishop, in the Women's Single Sculls and Melissa Rice, in the Lightweight Women's Single Sculls.

Other top-three finishes for Augusta boats include: the Elite Men's Quadruple Sculls team of Jon Werner, Juri Jaanson, Peter Lynch and Toby T. Johnson (first); Hall, in the Elite Men's Single (first); Juri Jaanson, in the Elite Men's Single (first); the Elite Women's Quadruple Sculls crew of Beth Greene, Katie Buttine, Liz Ostermeir and Samantha Byrd (third place); Byrd in the Elite Women's Single Dash (second); Buttine in the Women's Intermediate Single (second); Greene and Sharon Kriz in the Elite Women's Double Sculls (third); and Johnson in the Men's Senior Single Sculls.

In the team overall points race, the Augusta men finished eighth out of 54 teams, while the women finished 11th out of 61 teams.

HOOP DREAMS: Two local 13-and-under boys basketball teams fared well at the Youth Basketball of America national tournament held earlier this month in Polk County, Fla.

The Augusta Boys Club team finished fourth, while the North Augusta Jackets placed 10th. The 13-and-under division featured more than 40 teams from across the country.

For North Augusta, the luck of the draw made for a rough ride. In pool play, the Jackets lost to a powerhouse team from Williamson, Tenn., which featured 6-foot-10, 310-pounder Auri Allen, who was featured recently on Ripley's Believe It Or Not and ESPN.

Several local players also brought home trophies for their individual accomplishments.

North Augusta's Lance Johnson and Augusta's Brandon Holmes were named to the All-Tournament team. North Augusta's Brett Johnson finished second in the hot shot long-range shooting contest, and teammate Mark Johnson was named to the All-Academic team.

The Jackets were named the Academic All-Tournament team for their solid work in the classroom.

THE FAST-PITCH TRACK: Greenbrier High School softball standout Ashlee LaFontaine is fast becoming one of the most highly sought-after college recruits in the area.

Playing this summer for the Columbia-based Carolina Dynamites - one of the top traveling teams in the South Carolina - LaFontaine has been scouted by several top colleges including Stanford and Auburn.

With the Dynamites, Lafontaine, a catcher, is the batterymate of South Carolina freshman pitcher Melanie Henke, whose fastball has been clocked at 70 mph.

LaFontaine is also a top student, with a 4.0 GPA in Greenbrier's AP Honors track. She is ranked fifth in her class and already has scored 1,360 on her SAT.

--From the Thursday, July 31, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle