The Cathedral Catholic Dons Crew teams made history March 16, 2024, at the Pacific Invite Regatta when they rowed in the most races Cathedral has ever rowed in the program’s 13-year history. 

The teams started and finished 29 races, with two Dons’ boats earning third-place medals: the Women’s U16 2x of Misato Earley ’27 and Annika Nies ’27 and the Men’s U16 2x of Andreas Rull ’27 and Jayse Sanderson ’27. The team that placed No. 2 in Earley and Nies’ race bested the Dons boat by just under a second. 

Multiple Dons’ boats finished fourth in a heavy field, including the Men’s U17 4+ and Men’s U16 4x+ (by 1 second). “The competition was fierce, racing against small and large club teams that tend to begin rowing in high school with one-to-two years of experience already,” said Dons Head Coach Jeff Kiser. “The weather conditions were perfect and the show of strength in big categories like the Youth 4x where our seniors finished sixth out of 18 entries is very promising for the end of the season when we’re only competing against high schools.” 

The Pacific Invite Regatta is held at Lake Merced in San Francisco and features nine lanes across. Competitors included high school and club teams from all over California. 

The Dons Crew now turns its attention toward more specialized events, such as the Crew Classic, the Covered Bridge, and eventually the West Coast Scholastic at Lake Merced.