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On dry land, muscles matter Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Steve Gordon of Jackson County Fire District 5 puts his back into it during Saturday�s Row-A-Thon, a fund-raiser for the Ashland High School girls crew. Crew team member Sherri Thomas supplies encouragement. The event took place at Rogue Valley Mall. Row-A-Thon goes not to the swift, but the point is to raise money, not win By SARA MURPHY It wasn�t a typical crew at the Rogue Valley Mall Saturday afternoon. But it was crew. The Ashland High School girls crew team challenged four brave community groups to a 50-kilometer race on stationary rowing machines in the JC Penney courtyard. The 2001 Row-A-Thon was a fund-raiser for the team, which hopes to raise $40,000 this spring to purchase a boat and travel to six regattas. In Saturday�s competition, the team members took turns on the rowing machine, racing in place in a test of brute strength. The Ashland girls rowed with experience and technique. "I think we might have a little more stamina," said sophomore Lindsay Carlson. The competitors � mostly brawny men � were all about muscle. "They can do it any way they want, as long as we don�t have to do CPR," said coach Sheila Maher. Just before the race began, Jefferson Public Radio�s Joanie McGowan auctioned off the girls� strongest rowers. The Ashland Board of Realtors paid $90 to put Carlson on their team. About 30 minutes into the race, the team of Ashland firefighters and one police officer paid $100 for four girls � boosting their team�s numbers to 10, and cutting the girls� team down to six. "If I had more girls, I�d sell them, too. Believe me," Maher said, "I might even sell my assistant coach." The Ashland Fire Department team finished first � in three hours, five minutes, 57 seconds. Engineer Scott Hollingsworth � he drives the truck � joked that his team didn�t really need the girls� help. "We knew we were going to win, but we were feeling generous," he said. Then Hollingsworth admitted the team�s strategy to defend the golden oar, their 12.5-foot traveling trophy. "We�ve got a plan next year," he said. "We�re going to buy more Ashland High rowers." The girls crew team didn�t come in second, or even third. Those honors went to teams from the Oregon National Guard (3:07) and Jackson County Fire District No. 5 (3:11). "The way they were rowing is not how we row," said Mariah Baker, a sophomore. "If we were on water, we would have kicked butt." It was all in good fun, said Captain Stella Copeland. "It didn�t matter," the senior said. "We raised money." Participants in the Row-A-Thon sent out letters soliciting donations for the crew team, which had received about $3,100 by the end of the day. Maher said she expects more checks are in the mail. "I�m encouraged," she said. "I think we�ll get it." The 27-member girls team, which has no local competition, attends regattas from British Columbia to San Diego. Their goal of $40,000 would pay for transportation and food for their six competitions, and allow the team to purchase a new boat. Currently, their newest boat is a 1987 Pocock sweep eight. "Most of the boats are older than our girls," Maher said. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Sara Murphy at 482-4655, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.