The Little Knights were back in action last Sunday at this year’s Newport Autumn Rowing Festival (NARF) in Newport, California. The competition was similar to the previous weekend in Sacramento, but this time featured a revamped UC Davis Varsity VIII, as well as the Stanford Varsity VIII. Building on the success and good rhythm of last week, we attacked the piece with renewed aggression, and began to separate ourselves from Davis and draw closer to Cal C (the Cal Frosh VIII) by the half way point. When we took it up for our sprint, we added yet more, and came across the line at 40 s/m, expanding our lead over Davis and, as it turned out, over Cal as well. The result was the best finish yet for the Little Knights at NARF, as we earned a 4th place finish overall (of 30), behind only Cal’s Varsity, Stanford’s Varsity, and Cal’s JV respectively, and in front of the Cal Frosh and all the WIRA schools. Needless to say, there was much celebration later that afternoon and evening at the Little Knight on 17th street. Almost too much.
One particular Little Knight who deserves special commendation is Tom Graves, who raced and won (by nearly a full minute) the Open 1x at 7:15, then raced with our VIII at 8:00, raced and won (by a minute) the Open 2x at 9:00 with the famous Donny Simkin, and then raced the Mixed 2x at 11:00. Despite having four races in one morning, he still managed to make it out to the LK and enjoy a few ‘CL Smoothes’ that afternoon. This certainly ought to earn Tom a spot in the LK Hall of Fame. Kate Mead and Benton Sparks also raced a second time, in the Mixed 2x, placing 2nd overall.
Special thanks to Nick D’Antoni, Kate Mead, and Evan Bainbridge for coordinating the use of equipment and helping the regatta to run so smoothly.
Below is a link to the results of the Men’s Open VIII, NARF, 2009:
(Photo: The Little Knights cross the finish line in Newport. Photo Credit: Kate Mead)
One Comment
Hey Brian!
I see you have found my blog. I wanted to build it up a little before I showed it to you, as your blog is so professional and nice looking. Anyway, if I am around next year, can I get in on that Little Knight action. Mostly because growing up in Orange County, i encountered the eponymous bar many times but have never actually gone there, and I think the only way to do it would be to be a Little Knight. Does the bar sponsor you guys at all?
hope you are doing well