FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2026
West Windsor, NJ – 62 athletes competing in 9 boats will represent Princeton National Rowing Association’s Mercer Junior Rowing Club (PNRA/Mercer) as they race for a national title at USRowing’s Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida on June 11-14, 2026. The Mercer athletes represent 22 high schools from throughout the greater Mercer County area. Mercer has consistently had boats finish in the top ten in recent years.
The 236 teams who will compete at this year’s Championships represent 35 different states. They qualified through region events to receive invitations to the Youth National Championships. The Mercer Juniors qualified to attend the Youth National Championships at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, held on Mercer Lake on May 9-10.
“We are really excited to have another large group of athletes traveling to compete at Youth Nationals again this year,” commented Mercer Director of Rowing James Hamp. “After winning the team points trophy at Mid-Atlantic, the athletes have stepped up and improved even more over the past 4 weeks of training and I can’t wait to see the whole team execute their best this week to end the season. A special thanks to the entire Mercer and PNRA community back home and here in Florida cheering them on for making this possible in every way!”
The Mercer Junior Rowing Program trains at the Caspersen Rowing Center which is located in Mercer County Park on Mercer Lake. The Mercer Junior program includes 180 high school age student athletes during the school year. The Youth National Championships is the culmination of a year of training for this athletes.
Members of the Mercer Juniors competing at the 2026 USRowing Youth National Championships:
Men’s Varsity 8+
Jack Deverin Princeton High School
Oliver Yiacas Hopewell Valley Central High School
Calder Griffin The Pennington School
Vrishank Nalla West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Grant Shore Princeton High School
Cole Martin Voorhees High School
Brayden Collins Lawrence High School
Lukas Yiacas Hopewell Valley Central High School
Joseph Koyfman North Hunterdon High School
Women’s Pair (2-)
Lolita Nechay The Pennington School
Sophie Jing Princeton High School
Women’s Pair (2-)
Katherine Kramer Red Bank Regional High School
Madeline Wirth Notre Dame High School
Men’s 2nd Varsity 8+
Will Kovalick Princeton High School
Leone Westrick Princeton High School
Nathaniel Van de Graaff Biotechnology High School
Gabriel Colon Princeton High School
Sandor Tomei St. Joseph High School—Metuchen
Hollis Kaputa Princeton High School
Gavin McDonough Hopewell Valley Central High School
Thomas Huang Hopewell Valley Central High School
Olivia Huynh West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Men’s 2nd Varisity 8+
Jayen Patel Montgomery High School
Ritvik Arvind West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Dhilan Asarpota Princeton High School
Becket Washburn The Pennington School
Evan Kalmar Jackson Township High School
Fred Sellars New Hope Solebury High School
Arden De Sanctis Notre Dame High School
Logan Lee West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Jess Ehee Princeton High School
Men’s U17 4+
Ithan Javier Rodriguez Jackson Liberty High School
Alexander Wang West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Maxim Petrov Princeton High School
Mason McGovern Princeton High School
Charissa Hsu Princeton High School
Men’s U17 8+
Lucius Rufo Princeton High School
Ryan Masiuk Princeton High School
Shaurya Dasani West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Andrei Styrkas Princeton High School
Desmond McDonough Hopewell Valley Central High School
Carter Whyatt Princeton High School
Erik Thyrum Princeton High School
Ekaansh Singh Princeton High School
Gregory Koyfman North Hunterdon High School
Women’s U16 8+
Rachel Lee The Lewis School
Csilla Asztalos Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart
Shirley Xu West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Shelby Church Hillsborough Middle School
Claire Menapace Princeton High School
Rose Gutierrez Lawrence High School
Caia Howcroft Princeton High School
Grace Chen Princeton High School
Aahna Parikh Central Jersey College Prep
Men’s U16 8+
Xiaocheng Wu Princeton High School
Vivaan Dattani West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Nigel Boyd Franklin High School
Arhaan Mohindru Community Middle School
Armaan Jhajaria The Hun School
Kristof Tomei St. Joseph High School—Metuchen
Ronan Kuwar The Pennington School
Sebastian Rodricks Princeton High School
Annika Sheth Holicong Middle School
About the Princeton National Rowing Association
The Princeton National Rowing Association, a 501(c)3 organization, operates the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center located on the shores of Mercer Lake, Mercer County Park in West Windsor, New Jersey. The Princeton National Rowing Association is dedicated to operating a world-class training site for our nation’s elite athletes, providing opportunities for area youth to excel in the sport of rowing and to expand rowing in the area through community-based programs. PNRA runs the Mercer Junior Rowing Program which provides rowing opportunities for youth from over 30 area schools, the Mercer Masters Rowing Program and various outreach programs including the STEM to Stern Program and Capital City Indoor Rowing League. The Center is a home to the USRowing National and Olympic Teams, as well as rowing clubs and schools.
For more information, contact Kristopher Grudt, tel: 609-977-1094, krisgrudt@rowpnra.org or visit www.rowpnra.org.