Del Mar resident Mariko Kelly recently rowed her way to three first-place finishes at the Long Beach Invitational during the weekend of April 12-13.  
Kelly was joined by San Diego Rowing Club (SDRC) teammates Sarah Hoskin, Marissa Gibson and Jillian Renly to win the women’s quadruple sculls. Though in third place at the start, the four powered together to pull through for the win. They beat last year’s national champions, Long Beach Junior Crew, for the gold. SDRC rows on Mission Bay.
The Long Beach Invitational featured more than 20 of the state’s top rowing teams and was held at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, the site of the 1932 Olympic rowing venue. The race was 1,100 meters, with seven lanes of racing.  
Kelly is a junior at La Jolla Country Day School and has been rowing for SDRC for three years. Hoskin is a senior at the Academy of Our Lady Peace in San Diego and is headed to Fordham University on a rowing scholarship next year.  
Hoskin was joined by Evelyn Hall, a senior at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, to win silver in the lightweight women’s double.  Senior Marissa Gibson shared two of those golds with Kelly, one in the quad and another in the women’s pair. Gibson is a senior La Jolla High School and is headed to the University of Wisconsin on a rowing scholarship.  
Jillian Renly is a sophomore at University City High School. She won gold in the quad and double with Kelly, also nabbing the bronze in the women’s single.  
The team is coached by two-time Olympic gold medalist Susan Francia.  
The Long Beach Invitational is considered to be the final tune-up before the boats headed to Southwest Regionals at Lake Natoma in Sacramento on May 3-4.  Southwest Regionals is the qualifier for U.S. Junior Nationals. Last year, the quad representing SDRC took fourth place by a mere one one-hundredth of a second.