Local Venturer crews capture 5 races in Arkansas

Published 12:25 pm Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Bogalusa Venturer Crew 313 and Bush Venturer Crew 213 combined for five first-place finishes at the 49th annual National Invitational White River Canoe Race July 23-25.
The event, which is eight legs and nearly 120 miles long, went from Bull Shoals, Ark., to Batesville, Ark. It featured 25 teams trying to be the fastest.
Crew 313 captured the Open Cruising Division by 24 minutes, 54 seconds. The team posted a time of 12 hours, 37 minutes, 32 seconds. Russellville was second at 13:02.26.
Crew 213 was victorious in the Girls Beginner Division. They won the race in 5:49.25, ahead of Crews 213 and 871. Those two finished tied for second at 5:55.29.
Crew 313 also had the winning team in the Boys Beginner.
The squad tallied a time of 4:47.46. Crew 313 had the top four finishers out of the nine groups in that division.
Runner up was less than two minutes behind at 4:49.42, followed by times of 4:55.57 and 4:57.14.

COURTESY PHOTO Amid a heavy fog, canoers begin a leg of the 3-day, 8-leg National Invitational White River Canoe Race.

COURTESY PHOTO
Amid a heavy fog, canoers begin a leg of the 3-day, 8-leg National Invitational White River Canoe Race.

The beginners division races one leg per day. Canoers are allowed to race in the beginners division in just their first year of eligibility.
Crew 313 was victorious in the Boys Advanced Division with a time of 14:27.06.
In the Boys Novice Division, Crew 313 won after posting a 15:34.47.
They defeated second place Troop 356 from Warrenton by 2:14.11.
Col. Bobby Miller said the crews did a great job in this race.
“The practice that we had on the Pearl River Navigational Canal and the Bogue Chitto, which came after five months of practicing at Five Lakes, was the reason why we did so good in this race. Those practices helped us prepare for this race,” Miller said.

COURTESY PHOTO Josh Gulczyski (bow) and Cade Ard (stern) begin a leg in the 49th annual National Invitational White River Canoe Race.

COURTESY PHOTO
Josh Gulczyski (bow) and Cade Ard (stern) begin a leg in the 49th annual National Invitational White River Canoe Race.

This concludes the racing season for the local crews.
Prior to this, the crews competed in several events, including Dragon Boat Races, the Bayou Liberty Race, the Bogue Chitto Race. Also, some of the scouts were in the Louisiana Adventures Race.
Look for more information about the National Invitational White River Canoe Race in an upcoming edition of the Daily News.