Wearing RBC Blue Stripes Can Lead to Stars and Stripe

By Ed Moran

Lauren Schmetterling was clear about her goals when she met with U.S. women’s national team coach, Tom Terhaar.

She told him she wanted to row on the national team and was intent on making it. She had the power and the desire, but Terhaar thought she wasn’t quite ready. She needed work on her technique.

So Terhaar’s suggestion was to move to Boston, join the Riverside Boat Club and start working with head coach Tom Keister. “I’ve made that suggestion to a number of women,” Terhaar said last week. “Tom’s been great for us. They are not afraid to do the work. They erg and they get fit and they get better. It’s a lot easier to fit a new athlete in when they are fit. And they get fit at Riverside.”

Schmetterling followed the advice and trained and developed at Riverside for 22 months, earning her an invitation to the Princeton Training Center in November 2012

For Schmetterling, who won a gold medal at last summer’s world championships in the eight, and a number of notable athletes who row for, or have rowed for, the U.S. women’s team, Riverside was a place that helped make their international careers possible.

Some of the athletes include Olympians Natalie Dell, and Meghan Musnicki, Emily Huelskamp, who won gold in the four last summer in South Korea and four-time national team lightweight Hillary Saeger, who has two world championship bronze medals and one silver rowing in the lightweight women’s quad.

Last week, Saeger was again in the lightweight women’s quad that won senior trials along with the RBC men’s lightweight quad of Andrew Neils, Peter Schmidt, Jacob Georgeson and Kyle Lafferty. They won their senior trials event and now all five RBC athletes will race at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in August.

In addition, Schmetterling, who won another gold medal in the eight at the recent World Cup II at Lake Aiguebelette in France, and Huelskamp are in the mix for the coming world championships.

Talk to any of the women on the U.S. squad who have rowed at RBC, and they will tell say without question that their time at RBC is a big reason they have gotten to where they are.

“Rowing there was absolutely amazing,” Schmetterling said. “Tom Keister will do anything to make sure his athletes succeed and he will take them as far as they want to go. He would stay out with me on the water in my single until he was sure that I was accomplishing what he wanted me to accomplish.”

Musnicki, who also won another international gold on Lake Aiguebelette, remembers her time at RBC as life changing.

“Training at Riverside taught me many different things,” Musnicki said.  “For starters, it forced me to be more independent and reinforced the idea that you are responsible for yourself. Being a part of a club means that you have to make sure your boat gets to the race, you have to make sure your oars get to the race, and you have to know when your race is.”

She said that was not her experience rowing in college where she would get on a bus, be driven to the race, get off the bus and the equipment would “magically appear.” But she also said that while she had to develop an independent mindset, there was plenty of support at RBC.

“It’s like joining a huge family. If you need something or don’t know something, or want help with something, I knew all I had to do was send out a blast to the RBC list serve and within ten minutes my inbox would be flooded with responses.”

And, like Schmetterling, Musnicki credits the coaching she got at the club.

“As far as the coaching staff goes, I feel incredibly lucky to have trained under Tom Keister. Day in and day out he provided me with anything and everything I could need to attempt to advance my skills in small boats.

“I came to him pretty green in the small boat department so he definitely had his work cut out for him, but he kept at it and if it weren’t for him I definitely would not have gotten the invitation to go try out and train at the Princeton Training Center.

“He kicked my butt into shape, getting me physically ready for the training load at the center, and on top of that seemed undeterred in his attempts to round out some of the many rough edges I had in the single and double,” she said.

“There is no doubt in my mind that my journey to the national team began at RBC.  I will forever be thankful for my time there and will always cherish my stripes!”

Results: 2013 Canadian Henley

By Rachel Pettis

There’s just no ending the summer without the highly anticipated Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Across the board RBC had quite a successful week with multiple crews leaving St. Catharines wearing some pretty hardware. The conditions on Henley Island grew more and more favorable each day and by Sunday treated the crews to nearly flat water and sunny skies. To start off the week, the Master’s Men’s 8+ won gold as did Nik Kurmakov in the Master’s 1x. Both Men’s Masters 4+ finished 2nd overall.

Lauren Ayers took home gold in the Senior Women’s Lightweight 1x, arguably one of them most competitive events of the week. Finishing just ahead of Vesper after a mean sprint, Lauren’s victory was as exciting as it was deserved. Mike Farry placed second in the Senior Men’s Lightweight 1x in another extremely competitive final. Men’s and Women’s Sweeps also fared well against rival and Canadian clubs alike.

The Senior Men’s 8+ finished sixth overall and the Women’s 8+ Dash took home second. The Women’s Senior 2- finished third and in an extremely close race RBC took home third and fourth in the Women’s U23 2-. The Senior Women’s Lightweight 4- took home 4th overall but was the first American crew to cross the line. According to a spectator in the Port Dalhousie grandstand this particular race was one of the most exciting due to some questionable steering. After multiple crabs and collisions in the last 250 meters, several of the Canadian crews crossed the finish line in the entirely wrong lane. Riverside also competed in the Dash for Cash with a mixed 8 winning gold as well as some swanky Regatta Sports gear. Tired but satisfied RBC left Saint Catharines feeling like Olympians…well not exactly but Border Patrol seemed convinced enough.

Alumni Spotlight: Will Melcher

From Five-Year-Old Cox’n to Jim Hanley’s 2x Partner

How did you get started with rowing?
I started substitute coxing at age five for my father’s first crews at BB&N in 1952. It took a while for it to take, as I fancied myself as a baseball player. I started rowing in the ninth grade, and never looked back.

How did you end up at Riverside?
RBC was a mystery to me growing up. I never saw anybody rowing from there. I came to RBC after my first season at Weld, which I launched from for my first race in 1980 against Jim Hanley, Rufus Perkins, and Graham King. By then I had learned that RBC was the original rowing club of the Riverside Press (the publisher for some of the traditional literature for my high school English reading classes). The club seemed free of pretense, as its social life was on the water, and there were members as diverse as “Crusher” Casey, the pro-wrestler and champion sculler, and Mr. RBC, Bob Cutler, the Olympian.

While at Riverside, you played a large role in bringing the club through the transition to independence from Northeastern. How did you get involved? What was the outcome?
I became an RBC member in the spring of 1981 and was appointed by President Rufus Perkins at the same meeting to lead the boathouse renovations. We started by scraping the peeling paint in the (now) women’s locker room (where I first met Lynn and Charley Osborn) and the usual host of maintenance issues that require work to this day.

I was elected captain the next year over Ted Van Dusen; put together the first RBC Guidebook to replace the handwritten notes tacked around the logbook; worked with the first coach, Doug Clark, and President Jim Hanley to get the Committee system going; and was a trustee for a number of years before moving to New Hampshire to Amoskeag RC in 1998.

Tell us about a memorable Riverside experience.
During the Q&A session following my speech for trustee, in which I supported raising the dues from $50 to $75, I answered a member’s question about the financial value of RBC to me: “The additional dues will cost no more than a cup of coffee a day, but its value? I don’t know….$300, $500…$10,000!” which brought hoots from the crowd, especially since I couldn’t afford any bit of it. Somehow they overlooked it, and I won in a squeaker. There was also a candidate running on a platform of “condo racks,” so one didn’t even need to row your boat. That’s what we were up against.

What have you been up to recently?
I am president of Independence RC in Nashua, which we are pulling out of hat. I joined five years ago during its near total collapse. There were only five rowers, none of whom raced and had no coaching. We are now at 21 members and have competitive coaching, and eight adults competing around New England. We added a youth membership category last month that is fielding four scullers and sweepers. Look for the oars with the geometrically abstracted blue mountain on a yellow-dawn background.

Tell us something we do not know about you.
I am very pleased to be part of RBC as a supporting member and rowing in the 2x again with Jim Hanley as we did for 13 years back in the day. We won the Masters 2x at the Canadian Henley in 1991 as underdogs in a blistering race by 10ths of a second. My eyes were closed while waiting for the results, which Jim spotted first and made that whole long trip quite worthwhile. The only other international racing I did was at Henley, England in 1969 in my college 8, where we finished second to the Dutch national team in the finals of the Ladies’ Plate.

New Members: September 2013

By Joan Buck

Alyssa Fogel is returning to her native Massachusetts after spending several years at Carnegie Mellon University as an undergraduate and as a coach. She sweeps and sculls, which makes her a versatile addition to the Women’s Sweeps Team. Her favorite rowing moment is sitting on the start line in the final of the W2- at Dad Vail, because it was a boat she put a lot of work into. Welcome to RBC, Alyssa!

RBC welcomes another international member, Avalon Valstarfrom The Netherlands. Avalon is studying medicine in Rotterdam, she is here doing research at Boston’s Children’s Hospital as part of her degree. She started rowing at her university at home and can both sweep and scull. Her preference is for speed, so she likes 8’s and 4x’s. Despite only a few years of rowing experience, Avalon has several great memories. One stand out moment, is racing the GB Women in the 4- at the Royal Henley. Avalon brings a lot of fun and interesting experiences to RBC!

A former coxswain AND rower at Carnegie Mellon University, Josh Harvey is joining RBC. He can fill any seat in any boat as he can sweep and scull…and cox! The triple threat. His most memorable rowing experience is staying out for 3 hours of seat racing in the rain. Outside of RBC, he works as an analyst for Liberty Mutual. Apparently, he is also a classical pianist, maybe The Blades will recruit him for their next show!

Liz England is a new member to the Women’s HPG. Originally from Virginia, Liz learned to row as a novice at Clemson University, before transferring to Washington State University, where she rowed for 3 years. A member on the 2012 U-23 National Team, Liz lists her most memorable rowing moment as winning the OKC Night Sprints in 2011.

Charlotte Cavaille is another international member at RBC, originally from Brest, France. She is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University. She started rowing last year at Oxford University with sweep rowing, but is currently learning how to scull. Her best rowing memory is her first race, a bumps race at Oxford! If you’re not sure what that entails, track her down and she can explain it!

Jimmy Hughes works upstream at CRI as the equipment coordinator at CRI, but he is happily returning to RBC to row after a couple years break. He learned to row with the Michigan State University Club team and can both sweep and scull, so he will be a great addition to the Sweeps Men. As an MSU Spartan, Jimmy was happy any time his boat beat a University of Michigan boat. With Jimmy around, we can hope for some more delicious treats at the Head of the Kevin breakfasts, as he went to culinary school and aspired to be a pastry chef!

A native of Reading, Massachusetts, Julia Saraidaridis has just joined RBC, while in her surgical residency. She rowed at Andover, continued rowing in college at Dartmouth, where she enjoyed pushing icebergs off the bow on the Connecticut River in March. Most recently she was rowing at Ann Arbor Rowing Club, mostly sweeping, with a little bit of sculling experience. She is attempting to hike all 4000 foot peaks this summer and fall and she’s looking for hiking buddies!

Ragan McNeely is a masters’ rower who first learned to row at University of Oregon. During the 80s and 90s, he rowed with the recreational sweeps team at CRI and now has come to RBC. His favorite rowing memory is racing in his first HOCR in 2009 in the Masters 8, where they placed 10th out of 42 boats. It seems that he’s pretty handy, as when he was younger he rebuilt the engine of his VW bus and was able to drive it cross country!

New Members: May 2013

Catherine Parkhurst, originally from Greenwich, CT, is a new member of Womens’ Sweeps at Riverside. A 2011 graduate from Princeton University, Catherine lists Princeton women sweeping the top 4 events at Eastern Sprints in 2011 as her favorite rowing moment. Currently, Catherine is working on premedical requirements at Harvard Extension School. Please welcome her to RBC!

Claire Churchhouse is a citizen of the world (she’s British, but grew up in Abu Dhabi) and is joining us at Riverside, because she is in Boston working on her Post Doc at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. Claire learned to row at Oxford University and will be joining Womens’ Sweeps. Every row she doesn’t catch an ejector crab is considered a success for Claire.

Brookline Varsity Crew 2013 Season Recap

By Julien Mahler, Robert Richards and Aaron Sege, 2013-2014 Boys Varsity Captains

After a grueling winter training season that began in November, Brookline rowers left our high school’s basement and flew to Georgia to begin our spring season in February. Rowing on Lake Lanier, the 1996 Olympic course, we practiced sculling and sweeping in all boat classes before scrimmaging against Arlington-Belmont, who had also come down for the school vacation week. All Brookline boats won.

We kicked off the racing season on April 6 with our only race on the Charles. All four boys boats beat Hingham. The two girls boats both lost to Hingham but beat Boston Latin, retaining the First Salvo Sup. At the Andover-Exeter Invitational on Lake Quinsigamond two weeks later, the boys first boat achieved a huge upset by knocking down Andover, finishing in second behind Exeter in a very close race. The following week was the Lake Quinsigamond Cup hosted by Saint John’s, which both the boys and girls first boats won.

We had a very strong showing at the USRowing Northeast Regional Championships, our Nationals qualifier. Of our boats, the girls quad and four both made it to the semifinals. The boys heavy four made it to the semifinals and the boys light eight finished fourth in the finals, just short of a Nationals berth.

Both the light four, consisting of Adam Rintell ‘13, Julien Mahler ‘14, Cam Chiasson ‘13, Jacob Anmahian ‘13 and coxswain Max Condon ‘13 and the light double, consisting of Jack Ruske ‘13 and Jordi Cabanas ‘15 won gold, easily qualifying for Nationals in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Both the boys and the girls qualified all of their varsity eights for NEIRA Champaionships nad raced against the fastest schools in New England. The girls first boat came in fourth in the petite finals, and boys came in third.

The Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association Championship was our culminating race as a team. The race course was shortened from 1500m to around 1200m due to a very strong tailwind, making all the races very fast and close. In the finals, the girls third boat came in fourth, and their second and first boats both came in fifth. The boys first, second and third boats all captured silver medals.

Nationals, in Tennessee, was the last race for the seniors in Brookline colors–a graduation of sorts from Brookline Rowing. Alas, those who went had to forego Brookline High School’s official graduation, which was the same weekend. The light four did considerably well, placing fourth in the C final. The double, who placed first in their heat and semifinal, did no different at the Grand Final, speeding down the course to win first place and be crowned fastest light double in America.

Catching up with Rob White

How did you get started in rowing?
I started rowing in 1986 at the University of Rhode Island.  It was the spring of my sophomore year, and I had spent the last half of the fall recovering from a cycling injury. I was living with a group of rowers and they let me joint them in their winter training, helping to jumpstart my training again.  It was time for them to go out on the water and me the road, but something happened and I ended up sitting in a boat with socks on my hands and an oar in my hands.  I was very interested and tried to make it work for two more semesters before I took a year off to hike the AT. When I went back to school I realized sculling was in my future; I’m not the greatest team sports guy. I purchased a used Vespoli single and proceeded to win my first race in Albany where Burt Aphelbaum  saw me and asked me to join his guys (PVRA) rowing out of Trinity college’s boathouse.

How did you end up at Riverside?
1995 was the year.  I met Wendy Harland hiking with friends.  She was a member of the summer lightweight program and she introduced me to Jamie Ames.  And that is how I started rowing again after a four year break.

Rob with his family at his boat dedication.

You were President of the club from 2005 to 2007, tell us about a major project or projects you facilitated? 
I was Captain of the club in 1998. It was the year the master’s sweep programs came to life in a big way. The challenge was equipment and managing expectations, all the typical stuff with a group of eager new members that want to be on the water as much as possible during core hours.  AND then the ramp collapsed!  We replaced all the ramps with the current ones.  It was all about keeping my head above water.  At the time I only had email at work, and the emails were coming in at such a breakneck pace, that I was forced to have our IT guy put a filter in to turn emails back.  At the end of the year I decided to run for Trustee and was elected.  With the shellacking I took as Captain, I realized the best thing I could do as Trustee was to help the Captain get off to a good year.  I worked with Cheri Ruane, the new captain, to make her life easier by initiating a captain’s committee and assistants to help with scheduling.  My three year term didn’t even make it to a year when I decided to take a two year ex-pat assignment in Germany with Bosch.  I took off in the fall and brought my boat with me. I had two great years of rowing in Strasbourg, France.

When I returned from Germany it was late fall and elections were coming up.  Savas asked me to run for VP and I did.  I wasn’t elected, but on the spot I was nominated and elected for Trustee.  It was an interesting first year as Trustee.  My first main task was to have an open forum to discuss teaming up with either Simmons or G-ROW to improve the boathouse.  It went down like a ton of bricks; we’ve come a long ways since then!  After that I worked with Caro on the bathroom reconstruction, the sweep bay rubber roof and skylights, the heating system, the exterior lighting, repair of the rubber roof over the porch, managed the rigger, and many excel spreadsheets about building expenses, program costs…

Then I was asked to be President.  I thought Patricia was crazy, but between Sarah and Patricia they persuaded me to do it.  I’m certainly not the most charismatic leader, but I got into the nuts and bolts of running Riverside with the goal of getting the financial picture squared away such that RBC could entertain teaming up with another organization to improve the club.  Additionally with Sarah running the membership, we were focused on staying connected with supporting members, alumni, Simmons, Brookline and other clubs on the river with the goal of creating a larger RBC community than those of us that row regularly.  We also made some of the first bylaw changes since they were originally written. We added a presidents committee to the club that had grown by nearly 100 members since I had joined; it was becoming less manageable.  I can’t deny that there were a number of frustrating moments while on the board, but I’m glad I did it.

Tell us about a memorable racing experience.
My first speed order down at Princeton was an 8k Saturday evening.  I was 4th overall and the fastest lightweight with the previous year’s single sculler behind me.  The next morning we did 2ks. I won the lightweight men’s single by 2 open lengths. At this point I had only been sculling a year.  It ended several months after that with a herniated disk in my lower back.

You and Kevin are pretty quick in the double, any future athletic endeavors on the horizon?
Kevin is great to row with.  He makes me row so much better than when I am by myself.  Sarah doesn’t know this, but I’ve been contemplating cycling again.

What are you reading/watching right now?
Downton Abby – this is Sarah’s evening soap opera.

Tell us something we do not know about you.
I like to cook everything!  Dishes I crave are a northern Italian lasagna made with a ragu, béchamel sauce and homemade pasta.  I love to make fruit crisps, custards and English trifle.  When there is time I also like to make bread.

One additional fact, I stood 8 feet away from a 500lb grizzly bear in Alaska, we surprised each other and I didn’t make my underwear untidy!

Crusher Casey History

Among Riverside Boat Club’s best oarsmen during the late 1930s and early 40s and certainly its most colorful were three brothers from Sneen, County Kerry, Ireland, Steve, Jim and Tom Casey. In keeping with rowing’s long association with pugilism, Steve, Tom and two other brothers had been successful professional boxers and wrestlers in Ireland, but the seven siblings’ first love was rowing.  They raced victoriously in the 1930’s and it is said that five of them would have competed for Ireland in the 1936 Olympics had they not been disqualified for taking prize fight money.

In 1938, Steve “Crusher” Casey, recently arrived in Boston with Tom and Jim, won the world heavyweight wrestling championship at the Garden, a title he would hold until 1947.  Looking for a place to row, the three gravitated to Riverside, the Boston club with an Irish as well as a boxing pedigree, where they were soon known as “the famous Caseys.”  In 1940, they issued a challenge through the Boston Globe to any four in the country to race them on the Charles.  They were to be joined by another brother once it was accepted.  After watching the Caseys train, however, no one responded until Union Boat Club’s Russell Codman, Jr., a silver medalist sculler in a recent national championships but now 45 years of age, agreed to a singles race.  The Boston Globe sponsored the event, offering $1,000 in prize money.

Former Harvard oar Governor Leverett Saltonstall put up a cup for the winner.  The principals raised $2,000 in stakes.  Arranged for November 10, the race attracted an enormous crowd, reported to have included young Jack Kennedy.  Tom Casey, age 25 and famed for his blistering cadence, finished first, Jim was second, Steve third and Codman fourth.  Tom is said to have gone on to win every race he entered.  As for Crusher, it is testimony to his popularity on both sides of the Atlantic that his statue stands today in Sneen, while in this country his bars, Casey’s in Boston and Casey’s Too in Hull, were favorite watering holes for locals, Irish immigrants and rowers alike.

RBC 2012 Awards

Every year the board recognizes members who have gone above and beyond for the club. This past year, 2012, proved to be no less than extraordinary. Some of those recognized have dedicated several hours over a number of years while others are recognized for work done within this past year.

President’s Award

Development Committee: Dick Gaver, Lisa Kunze, Lynn Osborn, and Severine Imbert de Smirnoff

RBC President, Igor Belakovskyi recognized Dick, Lisa, Lynn and Severine for their tireless effort towards Riverside’s development and fundraising effort. Stepping in as Riverside’s Development Coordinator, Lynn Osborn combined efforts with Dick and Lisa to develop a mission statement for Riverside to guide the membership:

Riverside Boat Club strives to support the attainment of its members’ rowing goals, from recreation to the highest level of international competition, and to promote the art and enjoyment of rowing, by providing safe facilities, quality rowing equipment, and coaching in a friendly, collaborative, social community.

Since then they have taken on countless other tasks ranging from populating the Riverside sub-committees to having facilities drawings produced as RBC looks to the future.

Severine joined the Development Committee to chair the Fundraising Committee. In her first year, with help from countless other members, she helped organized three important events (100th Anniversary Celebration, 9/15 Olympic evening – silent auction, and a stewardship cocktail evening) that has lead to raising $236,721 in 2012.

Service Awards

Mary O’Neill
Mary had dedicated countless hours and years of service previously leading the Building and Grounds Committee. She had to deal with a range boathouse issues from broken urinals, to a broken boiler to managing the energy efficiency of fans in the boathouse. Essentially, she’s helped keep Riverside running! In general Mary helps Riverside be mindful of important concerns and membership contribution while always keeping Riverside’s best interest at heart.
 
Katy Ruderman
At times, Katy is a Riverside more than HPG rowers. 2012 marked her first year as co-chair for Cromwell Cup – by no means a small task. She is also a big reason why the Juniors have been well received in the infancy of the program. Whenever a volunteer task is up for grabs, Katy is the first to email a response to help get the Juniors involved with the task at hand.

Lib Diamond
Lib’s countless years of support for Riverside through her role as Director of Operations at Head of the Charles is no small feat and has been a great asset to Riverside (—as well as a great resource to find out what spot you’re at on the waitlist  for HOCR!). Well over a year ago Lib helped establish a policy for trailer cleanup to help clarify what teams need to take care of post-regatta. More recently she has helped lead the effort to outline a damage policy for the board to reference when equipment is damaged. Also in 2012, Lib lead the effort to formalize the General Membership meeting set-up. Riverside will greatly miss Lib when she moves to Denver in March.

Todd Milne
At the end of 2012, Riverside transitioned it’s communications to GroupSpaces and now has an online Membership Directory. This miraculous feat could not have been done without the hours upon hours Todd put into researching platforms, setting it up, testing it and eventually implementing the change. His role on the Membership Committee has been incredibly valuable and boathouse communications are constantly improving with his guidance and continually maintenance of the the directory.

Rookie of the Year

• Kelly Woodacre

• Antonia Villa

Both Kelly and Antonia stepped up to lend a hand with various volunteer activities. They volunteered so often it was impossible not to have met them along the way – Riverside is lucky to gain members like them!

Team/Committee

9/15 event, An Olympic Evening Committee: Amanda Milad, Antonia Villa, Ed Frankenberry, Katie Ward, Katy Ruderman, Kelsea Gusk, Laurissa Gulich, Mike Farry, Severine Imbert de Smirnoff, Stephanie Bakkum

This exceptional group of volunteers helped organize the first annual silent auction for Riverside. The event was held at Cambridge Boat Club and everything from caters to silent auction prizes was arranged and managed by this group. A total of 75 tickets were sold and the total income was $11,185 for a net total of $6,052.

Mileage

(most miles from Dec 1, 2011 – Dec 1, 2012)

• Ilana Zieff (female)

• Jake Georgeson (male)

Fob Award

(most used boathouse fob)

• Laurissa Gulich (female)

• Tom Keister  (male)

Bridge Award

Women’s Sweep

Concept 2 Virtual Team Challenge

RBC was 2nd place among “non-virtual” clubs behind CRI with 33 million meters from 453 rowers and HAVK Mladost (Croatia) with 23 million meters from 209 rowers. Jake Georgeson and Dorian Weber led team RBC with >730k meters each followed by Cornelia Willis and Sean Wolf >600k meters. Nikolay Kurmakov roared back from an early January vacation to finish in 5th place and was followed closely by Sarah Schwegman, both had >540k. Honorable mention to Sally Ruderman who crushed the U20 field, as well as the rest of us, with 483k. Check out the Concept 2 website for all of the details.

Well done RBC!

Riverside finished in 5th place overall in this worldwide competition of 325 teams. Pictured above: Lucas G.