Making Waves: Junior Sage Lickteig started rowing two years ago and has inspired her friends to join

Treading through her last regatta of the day at a competition in Des Moines, Iowa, junior Sage Lickteig was exhausted, following her three prior races during the day. Yet her mind was solely focused on one thing — winning.

“I had  almost zoned out,” Lickteig said, “I don’t remember the actual race that much. I just remember having to think that I wanted to win. I wanted to prove that I could win in that boat.”

Competing in the Head of Des Moines competition on Sept. 28, Lickteig and her teammate Senior Tucker Eddy were up against two of their teammates, East sophomore Keegan Kelly and Notre Dame de Sion sophomore Luella Mook.

Normally, winning first place for the first time in a regatta would be amazing news because it would mean her hard work would finally pay off, but for Lickteig it meant beating her teammates because of a 10-second penalty.

“We beat our own teammates and only because they had crossed over [a line] and got a penalty,” Lickteig said, “It was a really bittersweet win for me and I’m really proud of myself because I think I did really well, but also it hurt a little bit because they did so well.”

Lickteig’s first time winning gold was at the Head of Des Moines competition, but her rowing journey started January of freshman year. She started her practices on ergs — rowing machines rowers use to practice — and eventually got out onto the water on Wyandotte Lake that summer. Since joining, she has recruited two friends to her rowing team, The Kansas City Rowing Club.

Her love for rowing was first sparked during a freshman P.E. class with one of her friends, junior Nithmi Walpitage. The two wanted to try out something outside of the stereotypical high school sports, and they heard rowing looked good for college resumes.

“I was talking to Nithmi who I’d just become really good friends with,” Sage said. “We both thought that it would be great to try something new together because it would be fun to do it but I also wanted to have someone there with me.”

Walpitage and Lickteig joined Kansas City Rowing Club  January 2023 and after attending several practices, they knew rowing was something they would become passionate about and it stuck for them.

“When I first started, I definitely didn’t know if I would be good or not because it is a sport that I had never done before,” Walpitage said. “But after a few times I really enjoyed it so I knew I wanted it to be a sport I would continue for the rest of my life.”

Continuing rowing through sophomore and junior year, the two practiced on the water April through November, and conditioning in the winter to stay in good shape. 

Sage talks highly of the taxing sport, mentioning the rigorous hour and half practices three times a week, and being nonstop rowing on the water for 25 minutes straight. From these talks with her friends she managed to get Junior Lex Kangethe an Eddy into rowing for the KCRC. 

Not only did she recruit two of her friends, but she formed a friendship with former Kansas City Academy student and now East student Keegan Kelly. Lickteig encouraged him to transfer after he formed close relationships with East students on the team.

Kangethe and Eddy both adapted quickly to the sport after doing conditioning on the ergs during the winter so they were prepared for the next season. They both found their favorite part of the sport was the amount of physical demand that rowing requires, and the amount of discipline they learned from being involved in a difficult sport. 

“There’s aspects of the sport that you won’t get from other sports,” Eddy said. “I played basically every sport. When I got to high school joined volleyball, and it’s fine but it’s just not as physically taxing. To have a sport where it’s physically taxing and you have to work on technique and learning a skill, It’s just fun to get that runners high”

Although Sage has gained close team bonds from rowing with students from various different schools, the amount of support she gets from her coaches and seeing her progress play out is what made her stay.

“I’d encourage people to join and that’s it,” Eddy said. “If you don’t have any [sports] it’s incredibly taxing. And it’s a great skill to learn for anyone.”