Two of Cascadilla Boat Club’s crews — the Women’s Varsity Eight and Men’s Varsity Four — have qualified for the 2025 US Rowing Youth National Championships, marking the club’s first appearance at the event in 10 years.
To qualify for the regatta, the team competed against 68 other clubs at the New York State Scholastic Championship on May 10 and 11. The championship is set to take place starting June 11 through the 15 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.
During the state championship round, the Women’s Varsity Eight finished its first race in fifth place out of 13 teams with a time of 5:22.590. In its second race, the boat finished fourth out of nine teams with a time of 5:14.150. The Men’s Varsity four finished at 5:23.950, fifth overall and in its second race, the crew improved to a time of 5:06.480. Both results were good enough to qualify for the national competition.
“[The state competition felt] so good knowing that we can do that with our relatively small team,” said Audrey Greene, a member of the Women’s Varsity Eight. “To know that we can be as fast as we are with the limited resources we have […] feels like a big accomplishment already.”

Rhoda Brown, who rows in the bow seat and is a team captain, said that qualifying for the championship was a culmination of the team’s hard work over several years. To her, the chance to compete demonstrates the “effort” the team puts in through their training regime.
“We have shown up most days every season for the past few years,” Brown said. “When the weather is nice, we are on the water to improve our technique, row together and always keep working out. In the winter, we do a variety of workouts on land, including using ergs and lifting weights, to maintain our fitness and be ready for the spring.”
On the men’s side, head coach Lucas La Pointe said that he always knew he had a team that was “dedicated and ambitious.” He said that, as a coach, he put together “the building blocks” to help them succeed.
“One key to our success was staying creative and adaptable,” La Pointe said. “We had a lot of trouble getting on the water, between weeks of low water levels and high winds. Kudos to the guys for keeping the faith and sticking to the grind.”
Overall, the club’s goal for nationals is to give their best effort to compete and have fun with the experience.
“Our goal at states was to do our best and that got us into Nationals, so we are focusing on how we feel as a team,” Greene said. “As long as we feel good, then it was a good race; no matter what place we get.”
Coverage and streaming options for the event will be available on US Rowing’s official channels.
Zeinab Faraj is a reporter from The Cornell Daily Sun working on The Sun’s summer fellowship at The Ithaca Voice. This article was previously published in The Ithaca Voice.
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the feature editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and was the assistant sports editor of the 143rd Editorial Board. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.