Mercer Rowing Club’s women’s varsity 8 team coxswain Noa Rothstein (Newtown, Pa.), Haley Bork (Robbinsville), Rena White (Princeton), Kate Hickey (Yardley, Pa.), Kelly Fischer (Hopewell), Caitlin Cleary (Princeton), Badia Shehab (Hopewell), Alex Natale (Basking Ridge) and Beatrice Sclapari (Princeton) competes at a competition on Mercer Lake in April.
Princeton National Rowing Association’s Mercer Rowing Club began its spring racing season by winning 18 medals at the Mercer Sprints Regatta on April 18 and 19.
This year’s Mercer Lake Sprints attracted more than 2,000 high school-aged rowers from 42 rowing clubs to compete at Mercer Lake in Mercer County Park.
Mercer Lake has been labeled as “one of the nation’s premier rowing venues” by USRowing, rowing’s national governing body. It has been the site multiple Olympic and National Team Rowing Team Trials, NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, Scholastic Rowing Championships and FISA World Cup and Masters Regattas.
Mercer won gold in five events: women’s varsity 8 with coxswain, women’s lightweight varsity 4 with coxswain, women’s novice 8 with coxswain, men’s novice 8 with coxswain, and women’s second varsity 8 with coxswain.
Mercer’s gold medal in the women’s varsity 8+ event was hard earned as the Mercer crew edged rival Connecticut by less than one second and Saugatuck by less than three seconds in the event final.
The Women’s Varsity 8+ crew includes Alex Natale (Basking Ridge); Kelly Fischer, Badia Shehab (Hopewell); coxswain Noa Rothstein (Newtown, Pa.); Rena White, Caitlin Cleary, Beatrice Sclapari (Princeton); Haley Bork (Robbinsville); and Kate Hickey (Yardley, Pa.). The Mercer varsity girls are coached by Ted Sobolewksi.
The Mercer varsity teams are set to travel to Saratoga, N.Y. to compete at the Saratoga Invitational on April 26 and 27
More information is online at rowpnra.org.

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