It was a day of close races at the USA Canoe/Kayak National Championships for Cascade Canoe & Kayak Racing Team members Andreea Ghizila (under 18 sprint canoeist) and Joanna Crocker (masters over 60 sprint kayaker).
Ghizila started the day with a grueling 1000 meters in singles canoe. It was a tight race with a time of 5:43.100 – less than a second’s gap behind Seattle’s Nevin Harrison. The Ghizila/Harrison battle continued with …Ghizila winning the 5000 meter race yesterday. With her powerful 1000 meter finish, Ghizila qualified for the USA Team headed toward the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Szeged, Hungary in September.
Later in the day, Ghizila teamed with Gig Harbor’s Alyson Chiou in the under 16 Two-person Canoe 500 meters to narrowly defeat the Georgia team of Brunson and Farley-Klacik with a time of 2:27.69, earning Ghizila her second National title in two days. Again teaming with the Gig Harbor Club, Ghizila placed second in the Under 18 Four-Person Canoe 500 meters, just .33 seconds behind the Seattle winners.
Meanwhile, Masters started racing today and Cascade’s Joanna Crocker had a strong showing in Masters Over 60 Two-Person Kayak 500 meters placing second with a time of 3:04.14, and third in Masters Over 30 in Four-Person Kayak 500 meters.
“We had a very strong showing today at two ends of the age group spectrum. Joanna really helped her team pull out two strong showings in K-2 and K-4. Andreea reached her goal of qualifying for the Olympic Hopes Regatta and earned two silver and her second gold medals. I’m very proud of them both,” remarked Cascade Head Coach Dan Henderson.