GRPRow traveled to Princeton this weekend for USRowing's Fall Speed Order East (FSO). Taylor Goetzinger and Michalina Fili highlighted the Cedar Leaves' weekend with wins in the 6k erg and ~4.5k on water piece, finalizing their invites to the USTC in Princeton in the run-up to Tokyo 2020.

The speed order is a benchmark as rowers and scullers head into the winter training season, full of cross-training, weights, erg workouts, times in tanks and road trips to non-frozen water. Unlike a selection regatta that wins one a spot in the next level of competition, FSO has less immediate ramifications for most athletes and is comprised of two portions. Saturday sees a 6k erg test, which determines your start order for a head race on the water for Sunday.

GRPer Taylor Goetzinger kicked off her weekend with a bang, posting a 21:04.3 for the fastest women's time on the erg test. GRP teammates followed with:
Michalina Fili - 21:37.8
Alex Spaulding - 21:48.5
Bridget Schodorf - 21:53.5

Wes Vear led the men, with a 6th placed 19:06.2. Other GRPers followed with:
Kevin Meador - 19:17.3
Andrew Raitto - 19:19.3
Nathan Lado - 19:35.4
Lucas Bellows - 19:39.9

Sunday's on-water piece again featured a Greenie at the head of affairs; this time Mickey took the top spot with a 17:19.5 from starting in 13th. Taylor was 4th in 17:52.0, Spaulding finished in 18:07.2 and Bridget crossed the line in 18:29.2.

Lucas led the GRP men home with a 16:29.3 for 5th place, ahead of Nathan in 16:31.5, Kevin ten seconds further back at 16:41.5, Wes hot on his heels 0.3 seconds later, and Andy wrapping the GRPers up at 16:57.7.

While generally there aren't immediate ramifications on the basis of the FSO, this year it led to invites for Mickey, Taylor, and Alex to train at the USRowing Training Center in Princeton for the foreseeable future, likely until Tokyo! It's a bittersweet congratulations as we are thrilled by their success but will miss having them as a daily part of our community. Strong work, Green!

For all athletes, it was a strong weekend that bodes well for a winter full of training as everyone gears up for spring trials and next summer’s Olympics.

Find full results and coverage from USRowing.