Harrison Wins Semi, Advances to Final on Saturday at World Rowing Junior Championships

Men's single sculler Isaiah Harrison (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) used his power to methodically row down Lithuania's Povilas Juskevicius over the back half of his semifinal on Saturday, earning the victory and a spot in Sunday's final at the 2021 World Rowing Junior Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Harrison will join six other U.S. crews in tomorrow's medal races.
 
With three to advance to the final, Juskevicius

took the race out hard and built his lead to a boat length on Harrison and Italy's Marco Prati as the scullers hit the halfway point of the race. That's when Harrison began to take his rate up slightly, cutting the lead to about two feet as the scullers entered the last 500 meters. In the final stretch, Harrison rowed through Juskevicius to earn a length victory.
 
"The race plan going into it was basically to stay connected, stay relaxed, stay in control and then, as much as I could, not let them draw me into an early push or let them draw me into an early sprint," Harrison said. "I've been looking at the qualification slots, and it was all a really tight group, so I knew I didn't want to be in the middle of that group because that would put me in an unsure location for finishing and whether or not I'd move on.
 
"Coming into the last 1,000 (meters) after we pushed under the bridge, I did kind of a check of where I was, and at that point, decided that I needed to push a little bit and break out into an open lead or break out into a place where I knew that I (was) qualifying. That's where the mentality for building that push a little bit later on started. It was a conservative race plan that I thankfully executed really well."
 
Harrison finished with a time of 6:59.19, with Juskevicius taking second in a 7:01.16. Prati held on for third over The Netherlands' Lucas Keijzer, claiming the last qualification spot. Germany's Oliver Holtz won the other semifinal in a 7:02.59, with Belgium's Aaron Andries and Denmark's August Wisholm also advancing to the final.
 
The men's pair of Emmett Infante (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Row New Jersey) and Wilson Morton (Summit, N.J./Row New Jersey) just missed a spot in the final after finishing fourth in its semifinal. The crew now will race in tomorrow's B final for places 7-12. With three to advance to the final, Poland got off to the fast start, followed by Germany, Canada and the U.S. During the second 500 meters, Germany pulled ahead of Poland, with the U.S. moving past the Canadians and into a qualifying position.
 
Infante and Morton used their strong middle thousand to press Poland and moved into second place as the crews approached the 1,500-meter mark. At the same time, however, Canada was chasing down the Polish boat and moved into third place as the crews rowed into the final quarter of the race. Canada used its momentum to overtake the U.S. for second before a hard-charging Bulgarian crew sprinted into the final qualification spot. Germany won the race in a 6:44.32, with Canada taking second and Bulgaria finishing third. The U.S. finished fourth in a 6:51.11. The duo will race against Lithuania, Poland, Italy, Spain and Paraguay in tomorrow's B final.
 
The U.S. also had four boats racing in placement finals on Saturday.
 
Olivia Meskan (Aledo, Ill./Y Quad Cities) and Ella Saunders (North Liberty, Iowa/Y Quad Cities) finished off their regatta with a victory in the D final of the women's double sculls to finish in 19th place overall. Meskan and Saunders got off the line in third position behind the Ukraine and Thailand, before moving into second just after the 500-meter mark. The duo closed some of the gap on the Ukraine during the middle 1,000 meters before using a strong sprint to chase down the Ukrainian crew to earn the victory. The U.S. finished in a 7:30.00, just over a second ahead of Ukraine.
 
Clay Rybus (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Sea Base) and Sean Rybus (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Sea Base) took second in the C final of the men's double sculls, finishing 14th overall. The U.S. battled The Netherlands through the first half of the race, sitting less than a second off the Dutch crew's pace at the midway point. As The Netherlands began to pull away, Estonia made a charge at the American boat, but the Rybus brothers were able to shut down that move and secure a second-place finish. The Netherlands won the race in a 6:39.94, with the U.S. finishing in a 6:44.22. Latvia finished third ahead of Estonia.
 
The men's quadruple sculls crew of Owen Rulyak (Seattle, Wash./Pocock Rowing Center), Andrew Manns (Cherry Hill, N.J./South Jersey Rowing Club), Henry Ramstad (Seattle, Wash./Pocock Rowing Center) and Timothy Parsons (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene Rowing Club) finished third in the C final for a 15th-place overall finish. The U.S. got off the line in fourth and moved into third position as the crews hit the midway point. Serbia had built a length lead in the first half of the race and continued to extend its advantage on Hungary during the third 500 meters. The U.S. was able to edge ahead of Hungary with just 500 meters to go, but the Hungarians were able to meet the challenge and regain second during the final sprint. Serbia won the race in a 6:03.83, with Hungary finishing two second back. The U.S. finished in a 6:06.19.
 
In the women's single sculls, Eva Harris (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew) finished fourth in her C final to take 16th-place overall. Five scullers waged a tight battle for the top spot over the first 1,000 meters before Denmark's Clara Maria Cort Harnnaess established a clear lead. Austria got off to the early lead before Portugal moved into first at the midway point. That's when Harnnaess made her move. Harris rowed in fifth through the first 1,000 before moving into fourth during the third quarter of the race. At the line, Harnnaess crossed with a time of 8:04.62, followed by Portugal's Beatriz Varela. Harris finished with a time of 8:08.86.
 
In addition to the men's single and men's pair, the U.S. will have eight other crews racing in either A or B finals tomorrow.
 
The women's four with coxswain of Victoria Grieder (Windermere, Fla./Orlando Area Rowing Society), Julia Veith (Philadelphia, Pa./Whitemarsh Boat Club), Jane Cox (San Diego, Calif./San Diego Rowing Club), Imogen Cabot (Cambridge, Mass./The Winsor School) and Quincy Stone (San Francisco, Calif./Marin Rowing Association) will take on South Africa, Germany, Italy and Ukraine in the race for medals. The U.S. won the preliminary race for lanes, finishing nearly five seconds ahead of Italy.
 
The men's four with coxswain of Sammy Houdaigui (McLean, Va./First Coast Rowing), William Thayer (New Orleans, La./St. Paul's School), Samuel Kleiner (Westport, Conn./Saugatuck Rowing Club), Liam White (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation), and Adam Pushner (Fairfield, Conn./Saugatuck Rowing Club) won its heat to advance directly to the A final. The U.S. will race against crews from Germany, Turkey, Italy, France and Russia. Italy enters the race as the other heat winner.
 
The women's four of Paris Burbine (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Andrew Rowing Club), Meagan Goldsmith (Ocoee, Fla./Orlando Area Rowing Society), Cillian Mullen (Batavia, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation) and Maeve Heneghan (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation) finished second in their heat to earn a spot in the A final. The crew will take on Romania, Italy, France, Germany and Greece in the race for the medals. France and Italy won the two heats.
 
In the A final of the women's quadruple sculls, Meena Baher (Mountain View, Calif./Los Gatos Rowing Club), Heather Schmidt (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna Rowing), Jackie Oruci (Oyster Bay, N.Y./Oak Neck Rowing Academy) and Annie Herring (Dallas, Texas/The Hockaday School) will race against crews from The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Romania. The U.S. advanced to the final thanks to a second-place finish in the repechage.
 
The women's eight of Lauren Peters (Knoxville, Tenn./Atomic Rowing), Nora Goodwillie (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation), Sofia Simone (Miami, Fla./Sarasota Crew), Julietta Camahort (San Francisco, Calif./Marin Rowing Association), Mia Levy (Des Moines, Iowa/Andover Crew), Sophia Klessel (Bronxville, N.Y./RowAmerica Rye), Paloma Sequeira (Cambridge, Mass./Community Rowing, Inc.), Cate Van Stone (Philadelphia, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) and Elsa Hartman (Roseville, Calif./Capital Crew) will take on crews from Germany, Italy, Spain and Romania in the A final. The crew won the preliminary race for lanes ahead of the Italians.
 
The men's eight of coxswain Adam Casler (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center), Tyler Horler (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew), Ryan Link (Burke, Va./Gonzaga College High School), Jordan Dykema (Seattle, Wash./Pocock Rowing Center), John Patton (Houston, Texas/Deerfield Academy), Miles Hudgins (Andover, Mass./Greater Lawrence Rowing Association), Julian Thomas (New Hope, Pa./Princeton National Rowing Association/Mercer), Aidan Murphy (Huntington Beach, Calif./Newport Aquatic Center) and Stephen Warming (Newton, Mass./Belmont Hill School) also advanced to the final off of a heat victory, clocking the fastest qualifying time. The crew will take on eights from Romania, Belarus, Germany, Russia and Italy in the final. Germany won the other heat.
 
In the B final of the women's pair, Bridget Galloway (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Boat Club) and Sophia Greco (Rowayton, Conn./Connecticut Boat Club) will take on Spain and Sweden for overall places 7-9.
 
In the men's four, Troy Riesenberger (Sarasota, Fla./Sarasota Crew), Davis Kelly (Vashon Island, Wash./Burton Beach Rowing Club), JJ Dubois (Gainesville, Fla./Sarasota Crew) and Declan Fry (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Rowing Foundation) will race in the B final for overall places 7-12. The crew will take on Poland, Denmark, Ukraine, Croatia and Serbia.
 
Nearly 600 rowers from 43 nations are competing in the five-day regatta.
 
Visit USRowing's 2021 World Rowing Junior Championships coverage page for athlete bios, daily recaps/previews, photos, race schedule, results and more. The live race tracker and live audio is available for ALL races on www.worldrowing.com. Live video streaming will be available on the World Rowing website on Sunday.
 
Follow along with the U.S. Under 19 National Team at the by using the hashtags #WRJCHPlovdiv or #WRJCH.