NA Rowing Shines at 24th Annual Erg in the Burgh
February 22, 2025 | Wexford, PA
North Allegheny Rowing Association hosted the 24th Annual Indoor Rowing Championships, known as Erg in the Burgh, at Marshall Middle School on Saturday, February 22. The event saw over 250 athletes from schools across the Pittsburgh area compete in a day filled with intense racing and personal triumphs.
The competition kicked off with the Coxswain 1K races, where four of North Allegheny’s Tiger Women put on a strong showing. Emma Coca and Ava Moore secured Gold and Silver, respectively, setting the tone for a successful day.
In the Novice Women’s events, all four NA athletes (Ananya Doizhode, Sophia Savena, Natalie Patel, and Louisa Patel) achieved personal bests. Notably, N. Patel shaved an incredible 90 seconds off her 2K time.
The Novice Men followed with six entries and five personal records set by Stephen Webber-Plank, Tai Luangkesorn, Emmett Robleto, Yuantao Tang, and Matthew Collins. Webber-Plank earned Silver in the Novice Men’s Lightweight event, while Robleto also took Silver in the open Novice Men’s category.
JV races brought continued success for North Allegheny. Jocelyn Munroe recorded a five-second improvement in the JV Women’s Lightweight event, and Natalie Helffrich set a new personal record in the open JV Women’s category. Christian Sparendeo secured a Bronze in the Men’s Lightweight JV event, while Daniel Choi also set a personal best. In the Men’s JV open event, six Tigers competed, with Alex Repinski and Neil Pore setting a new bar for themselves.
Varsity competition saw more podium finishes for North Allegheny. Katherine Zema earned Bronze in the Women’s Varsity event. The Men’s Lightweight Varsity category delivered a podium sweep, with Miles Rees winning Gold and breaking the seven-minute barrier, followed by Carson Corona in second and Nolan Bunn in third.
A highlight of the day came from Anthony Bertucci, who made NA history by climbing to number six on NA Rowing’s Men’s Top 25 record board with a time of 6:28.8, securing Bronze in the Varsity Men’s open event. Phoenix Core also impressed, cutting four seconds off his personal best in the same event.
Ten middle school athletes represented the Tigers in the Middle School 1K race, gaining valuable competition experience.
The day concluded with the mixed relays, where North Allegheny fielded Varsity, JV, and Novice teams. The Varsity lineup (Anthony Bertucci, Nolan Bunn, Natalie Helffrich, Madison Lambert, Miles Rees, and Katherine Zema) secured second place in a competitive field. The JV team (Ananya Doizhode, Abby Greiner, Jocelyn Munroe, Neil Pore, Alex Repinski, and Christian Sparendeo) also took second, finishing ten seconds ahead of third place. The Novice crew (Ryan Lovejoy, Louisa Patel, Natalie Patel, Emmett Robleto, Sophia Savena, and Stephen Webber-Plank) battled hard to claim second as well.
With Erg in the Burgh marking the final indoor event of the season, North Allegheny Rowing now turns its focus to the water. The team begins the spring season at Moraine State Park on March 10 and looks ahead to their first spring race at the Huron River Sprints in Milford, Michigan, on April 19.