Dallas, TX - Dallas United Crew (DUC), celebrated on May 20th at their season ending banquet, dubbed Bow Ball – a play on the name of the rubber guard that protects the point on the bow of a racing shell. The gathering commemorates a year of historic success, honors the Class of 2023, and recognizes exemplary contributors.
A year-in-review video revisited the team’s competition at regattas in Oklahoma City, Austin, Waco, Seattle and Boston, and climaxed with coaches Xavier Aniton and Yahia Eldeib running, trophy held aloft to present the team with its first ever USRowing Central Regional Team Points title, this time for the Women’s category. A chorus of, “DUC! DUC” greeted their delivery. USRowing’s Central Region Championship concluded DUC’s competitive year. In regional competition, the team medaled in sixteen of twenty-two entered events, taking gold in four. Ninety-five individual medals were awarded. High winds canceled the majority of DUC’s races Sunday, awarding medals based on Saturday’s time trials and denying rowers head-to-head matchups. Austin Brooks (Executive Director & Interim Boy’s Head Coach) “We have been really focused on overall team success and building our system of success through the program. Athlete development is the key to climbing the national rankings and one day becoming National Champions. We have to keep building from the bottom up!”
Bow Ball celebrations continued with individual awards for outstanding athletes and recognition of DUC’s graduating class. Once again, more than half of DUC’s seniors will matriculate to NCAA or IRA Division I rowing programs. Underscoring how rowing can change the trajectory of a teen's life, oarsman Kate Russ rowed just one year at DUC and was recruited to the University of Washington, a perennial collegiate rowing powerhouse. Teammate, Ty Koran, left football in the spring of 2022 to row with DUC and landed a spot on the University of San Diego’s heavyweight men’s roster.
Among the awards, DUC recognized seventeen varsity letter winners from schools including Bishop Lynch, Highland Park, Hillcrest, Southlake and Woodrow where the school’s athletic department has partnered with the organization. DUC actively embraces opportunities to partner and augment in-school athletic opportunities with rowing and is an Approved Agency for Off Campus P.E. Credit at most schools.
As the regular season concludes, DUC is still training. Six DUC boats qualified for and will race at USRowing’s Youth National Championship in Sarasota, FL on June 8th - 11th. DUC invites all youth rowers to train at its High Performance Development Program; the focus will be improved technique, fitness gains, and building speed to compete at USRowing Club National Regatta in Bethel, OH mid-July.
For those new to rowing who would like to try the sport, Dallas United Crew offers summer camps in June and July to boys and girls in grades 6-12. This is where Kate Russ started! Those who want to keep rowing funnel into DUC’s Intermediate Development Program to prepare for advanced rowing in the fall. Visit www.DallasUnitedCrew.org to learn more.
Bow Ball Awards
Oarlock Award: Nora Thompson
MVP: Jack Craycroft, Nora Thompson
The Hammer: Jack Halverson, Paisley Rodriguez
Coaches Award: Ryan Brown, Kate Russ
Most Improved: Clark Hobbs, Madelyn Vela
Gold Nugget: Lisette Viguerie, Nathan Wivagg
Rising Star: Kayla Quiroga
Eight in the Eight:
- Zeynep Akdora
- Jack Craycroft
- Jack Haney
- Sierra Ross
- Nora Thompson
Varsity Letter Awards:
- Zeynep Akdora
- Luke Blankenship
- Jack Craycroft
- Claire Dwelle
- Cole Farley
- JackHaney
- Coleman Hays
- Clark Hobbs
- Josh Lando
- Lauren O’Grady
- Paisley Rodriguez
- Sierra Ross
- Matthew Slear
- Daniel Sneed
- Estelle Stout
- Olivia Till
- Nora Thompson
Cornerstone Athletes:
- Cole Farley
- Matthew Slear
- Olivia Till
DUC Class of 2023
- Zeynep Akdora, attending Smith College
- Jack Craycroft, attending University of Oklahoma
- Jack Haney, attending University of Miami
- Ty Koran, recruited to University of San Diego
- Sierra Ross, recruited to Boston College
- Kate Russ, recruited to University of Washington
- Nora Thompson, recruited to Monmounth University
USRowing Central Region DUC Medalists:
Gold
- M2V8+: Jack Davis, John Bunge, Owen Frazer, Alexander Musico, Aidan Morris, Mauro Quiroga, Jack Haney, Coleman Hayes, Jeff Kang (Cox)
- WU178+: Diana Farnworth, Mary Hall, Elisabeth Viguerie, Julia Blewett, Juliana Stimac, Madelyn Vela, Hannah Birdwell, Ella Spillman, Erin Yuan (Cox)
- W2-: Sierra Ross, Olivia Till
- WU174+: Julia Blewett, Julia Stimac, Yaya Lagisetty, Mimi Tafel, Riya Venkatesh (Cox)
Silver
- M1V8+*: Luke Blankenship, Raul Gupta, Jack Halverson, Daniel Sneed, Clark Hobbs, Julien Balestri, Cole Farley, Matthew Slear, Jack Craycroft (Cox)
- M1V4-: Luke Blankenship, Raul Gupta, Cole Farley, Matthew Slear
- M1V4+: Jack Davis, Jack Halverson, Daniel Sneed, Clark Hobbs, R. Brown (Cox)
- MU174+: Julian Balestri, John Bunge, Theo Statiras, Henry Thompson, Tyler Koo (Cox)
- WU15 4x+*: Ella Bates, Hedda Beck, Thalia Makris, Talia Taback, Kayla Quiroga
- W2V8+: Ella Noonan, Zoe Greene, Olivia Knight, Caroline Mazat, Emma Lopez, Estelle Stout, E Conley, Lente Van der Westhuizen, Nikita Malik (cox)
Bronze
- W1V8+*: Sierra Ross, Olivia Till, Zeynep Akdora, Kathryn Russ, Lauren O’ Grady, Paisley Rodriguez, Victoria Bell, Nora Thompson, Claire Dwelle(cox)
- W1V4-: Victoria Bell, Paisley Rodriguez, Kate Russ, Nora Thompson
- MU178+*: Theodore Statiras, Henry Thompson, Bryan Pletcher, Luka Anderson, David Guo, Louis Hixon, Luke Bodwell, Yiyoung Liu, Tyler Koo (cox)
- M2-: Jack Haney, Joshua Lando
- MU15 4x+*: Hayden Phan, Anton Jordanoff, Kieran Webb, Tyler Coke, Gigi De La Torre (cox)