MAC Rowers Shine at Nationals

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Three Pacific Palisades girls and one boy represented Marina Aquatic Center in the USRowing Youth National Championships June 7-11 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida—considered the top rowing venue in the country—and they returned with smiles on their faces.

The 2023 event proved to be the largest ever with 835 entries from 225 clubs across the country, drawing more than 4,000 athletes. The annual regatta featured races in 36 different boat classes. Palisadians were in three of the four MAC boats.

Alphabet Streets resident and Geffen Academy freshman Bella Tyson Montgomery helped MAC’s Women’s U16 quad with coxswain to the 4x+ A championship with a time of 7:35.302 in the finals, beating runner-up NorCal by almost three full seconds.

The MAC crew had the fastest time of the 21 boats in time trials. The championship race was dramatic as MAC rowed neck-and-neck with NorCal most of the way before winning by about a boat length to take the gold medal.

MAC’s Women’s U17 quad placed eighth in the U17 4x A Final in 7:39.116 thanks to the help of Sky Shannon and Mia Mozenter. Redwood Scullers took first place in 7:19.033. Shannon lives in the Huntington and is a sophomore at Girls Academic Leadership Academy.

Mozenter is from the Via Bluffs and is a 10th-grader at Palisades Charter High School. Shannon and Mozenter teamed up with Dylan Jacob and Shannon Stuart to compete against 24 other boats in the time trials and semifinals.

MAC also sent a couple of men’s boats to Nationals, including the Men’s Youth 4, an event that featured 29 teams at the outset. Luigi Catapano, a graduating senior at Pali High, was a member of MAC’s crew, which placed 19th in the nation.

Sarasota is the culmination of USRowing’s youth season and MAC was one of 225 clubs and high schools participating from all over the country. Teams competed in regional regattas across the USA and the top performers were invited to challenge this 2,000-meter course over five days, from time trials, to semifinal heats, to runner-up finals, to championship races on Sunday. In most events, progressing to Sunday finals meant fighting through an initial field of 20 to 30 boats.