Kaitlyn Tonsfeldt had been rowing for several months when she had to make an important athletic decision. Would she continue her volleyball career or commit to rowing?
The Menlo-Atherton senior decided to concentrate on rowing, at the time a new passion without many guarantees.
While the volleyball team worked toward another state championship berth, Tonsfeldt woke up every morning just after 4 a.m. and drove herself to rowing practice.
A year later, the volleyball team will still be good enough for another title run and Tonsfeldt can also claim victory in the form of two gold medals from the recently concluded age group club nationals on Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio.
Tonsfeldt was chosen to row with three different boats at the club nationals, a journey that began with an U18 High Performance camp.
She helped the U19 USR Junior HP Camp eight boat race to a surprising victory over rival USR CanAmMex in seat 2, finishing the race in 6:27.35, nearly seven seconds faster than CanAmMex, which finished second.
Two days later, Tonsfeldt found herself rowing with the U23 eight boat in seat 4 that again surprised the field with a winning time of 6:37.0 in the Intermediate 8+ ‘A’ final. CanAmMex finished just about two seconds later.
Vesper, the third-place boat in that race, went on to capture the overall men’s and women’s titles.
Also Sunday, Tonsfeldt was in a stroke seat for the U19 4+ ‘A’ final that finished fourth. She also scratched from the U19 2- boat.
Palo Alto Rowing Club’s Jex MacGregor, a recent Gunn High grad, and Mark Jankovic, a Mountain View High grad, also competed at the club nationals.
Sacred Heart Prep grad and incoming Stanford freshman Trey Holterman will be competing for the USR men’s 8 boat at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Lithuania beginning Aug. 2.
Palo Alto grad and incoming Columbia freshman Clay Watson will also be at the world junior championships as a member of USR’s men’s four with coxswain.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports