Six to represent Rogue Valley in Florida, including first ever team in para event

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

The water at a nearly full Emigrant Lake reflected bright blue skies and expanding horizons for the Rogue Rowing Juniors as they carried their boats to the dock Saturday morning.

The irrigation lake is a training ground for the team of student-athletes who have rowed their way to a competition at the national level next month. Representing Ashland, St. Mary’s, and North Medford high schools and Logos Public Charter School in Medford, the Ashland-based team will compete with rowers from around the country at the U.S. Rowing Youth National regatta in Sarasota, Florida June 12 through 15. 

The qualifying team, made up of two seniors and four underclassmen, is raising funds to make the trip. As of Monday, rowers had fundraised more than $5,200 for the trip through a Go Fund Me, just shy of their $6,000 goal. Crowdfunding has allowed rowers to focus their efforts on training for the event. (See update below)

The following student-athletes qualified for nationals in 2,000 meter races:

• Ashland High School sophomore Tobias Pew and AHS junior Marcel Starbird: Men’s Youth Para Inclusive Double. Pew also qualified for a non-para event in the U17 Single Scull
• AHS senior Amelie Requejo: Youth Single
• Requejo, senior Brianna Brownlee, junior Esme Medley, and junior Kiva Dilansa: Youth Quad (four-person boat)

A Rogue Rowing veteran, Requejo will make her fourth visit to nationals in June, her last big race as a member of the team.

Dilansa, also acquainted with the competition, will return for her second time qualifying for nationals.

It’s the first time Pew and Starbird, both 16, Brownlee, 18, and Medley, 17, have qualified for the competition.

On land after practice, Starbird said he is just hoping to do as well as he can at nationals, as he supports his teammate, Tobias Pew. The duo will compete together in the first para event for the Rogue Rowing Juniors team. Pew, whose right foot isn’t fully developed, competes with a prosthetic foot on his right leg.

“It’s harder to press on the foot plate, so you don’t get quite the amount of power, energy,” Pew said.

But don’t let that fool you though — about his abilities or his determination.

“He’s pretty gritty,” Starbird said of teammate Pew, “And he can be really motivating. I know he’s always going to be giving it his all, so I’ve got to give it my all.”

Pew qualified for nationals in the single boat division, but entered the para division to broaden his opportunities in the sport. His coach encouraged him to get certified to compete in para rowing events last year.

Born in China, Pew was adopted in the United States when he was 18 months old. He credits his mom with getting him into the sport in seventh grade after quitting baseball. His mom knew a master rower through the adult rowing club and after getting into it, he’s hooked.

“I’m so integrated into this club, I can’t imagine not being in it,” Pew said.

“The first year I came here (2022), I didn’t know how far you could go,” he added. “It quickly became a goal of mine to make it to nationals, compete, represent the Rogue Valley down in Florida. I’m definitely super excited to finally fulfill that item on my bucket list.”

He’s also looking forward to reuniting with friends from around the United States he has met since starting the sport.

“We’re going to compete against three other boats, and it’ll be pretty cool,” Pew said.

Requejo, team captain of the Rogue Rowing Juniors, is poised to compete in June in Youth Single and Youth Quad (four-person boat) with Brownlee, Medley, and Dilansa. 

As a four-time nationals qualifier, Requejo recalls the humidity and the heat in Florida as well as the “hustle and bustle” of national competition.

“It’s just a much bigger regatta than anything we’ve ever been to (as a team), so making sure that we can stay focused on the boat and how we’re rowing instead of everything around us is really important,” she told Ashland.news via phone.

“We know how to row,” she added. “We do it every day, and making sure we don’t forget that is really important.”

Goal-wise, Requejo said she just wants the team to do their best, both in single and quad events.

“This is the second time I’ve been rowing a quad, and I think there’s something different about being able to row a quad at nationals than just a single,” Requejo said. “You’re bringing your teammates with you, which is really nice to have their support, and they’re going through the training with you.”

Requejo also is looking ahead to a bright future beyond the youth national competition.

“I’ve been recruited to row at Stanford, so this team has been very transformative for me,” she said. 

For Requejo, it all started with a summer camp at the age of 12.

“I started rowing right before COVID,” she said. “I wasn’t really wanting to do it, but I got into a boat the first day and loved it.”

Going to practice, seeing friends, getting a workout in, and getting outside were important to her.

“I’d say the most amazing time is in the morning when the sun hasn’t quite risen, so you get to see the first rays of light and the water is just glass,” Requejo said. “It’s really magical.”

That affinity for the water and sport have led her to give back, too.

“For my senior project, I started coaching a little bit, so I think whether it be rowing or coaching, I’m going to try and stay around it,” she said.

A culture of support

After sending the rowers out on the lake on Saturday, coaches Mattea Fountain and Jillian Deller each followed along in motorboats. Using a bullhorn, Fountain called out directions to rowers during their warm-up sequence on the water.

Fountain, a former coxswain herself, noted the athletes’ devotion to their sport and to each other.

“A lot of these kids wouldn’t be friends (otherwise) because they’re from different school districts, different grades. But because of rowing and spending so much time together, they’ve all gotten really close,” Fountain said. “The team has a really good culture, supporting each other no matter what. That’s been really special to watch.”

Fountain praised all of the athletes heading to nationals, and shared how the sport prepares them for life. 

“It gives you so many opportunities,” Fountain said. “Rowing is the no. 1 sport for scholarships for women.”

Two of the athletes headed to nationals this year have scholarships waiting for them after graduation.

“(Brownlee) … it’s only her second year in the sport and she got recruited to row for Washington State (University) and she’s going to nationals,” Fountain said. “She is so strong and has such amazing awareness.”

“Rowing is good as a sport to keep you in shape and to get you moving and outside and meeting people, but it’s also really good for life lessons and learning how to work with people and how to work hard,” Fountain added. “It’s just a great way to learn how to be a person and how to be responsible for yourself. I think I’d be a very different person if I hadn’t rowed in high school.”

Recruiting always open for the team

Rogue Rowing Juniors, formerly known as Ashland Rowing Club, rows at Emigrant Lake almost daily, with weekday morning and Saturday morning practices added in to prepare for nationals.

The club used to have more than 70 rowers in its ranks prior to 2020, according to Fountain. 

“After COVID, it kind of dwindled down, and we’re currently trying to rebuild,” Fountain said. “It’s a really cool sport. Getting to be out on the water in the afternoon … it’s really special, but it’s hard to convey that in schools. It’s hard to get our name out there.”

Coach Jillian Deller has been working with Rogue Valley schools, attending eighth grade open houses and P.E. and weight room classes to help spread the word about the team. No experience is necessary to join the team.

The team has two seasons, fall and spring, making it easy to work with athletes who are in different sports.

“We really do recruit all year-round,” Deller said, with summer and fall being among the most popular seasons to try it out.

To learn more about the fundraiser for their trip, visit gofundme.com/f/vqkqk-help-rogue-rowing-juniors-reach-nationals.

Donations pay for flights, food, registration fees, hauling boats (by Oregon Rowing Unlimited) and car rental fees while the team is at nationals.

To find out more about Rogue Rowing, visit www.roguerowing.org/about-us.

Rogue Rowing Juniors is also offering summer camps for youth ranging from eighth grade to senior year. To learn more, reach out to Fountain at [email protected].

Email Ashland.news staff reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].

Update: The Rogue Rowing Juniors met its initial goal of $6,000 on Wednesday, but raised the amount needed to $8,000 to cover the costs associated with travel and hauling boats not covered in the initial goal.