Hillsborough High’s Katie Burke capped a stellar senior season with a bronze medal at the USRowing Youth National Championships at Harsha Lake near Cincinnati on Sunday.

Burke rowed tactically calculated races in the opening round and repechage to advance to the final. When the final came, Burke raced at full power for the first time all weekend to take the bronze in a time of 8 minutes, 34.58 seconds.

“It’s just really awesome,” Burke said. “I knew it would be tough competition the whole way, and so every race I was trying to do what I had to to move on to the next. Today in the finals, I thought, ‘Well, I might as well go all-out and see what I can do.’ It’s really cool to place.”

Burke finished seven seconds behind Nicole Bielawski of New York’s Friends Academy. Both rowers are currently competing for places on the U.S. Junior National team at sculling camp in New Milford, Conn., which began Monday.

“I was pretty nervous seeing some of the girls there,” Burke said. “Knowing I can hang with them is definitely a confidence boost going in. Now I’m like, ‘OK, I can hang with them at nationals, so I should be able to be able to at selection camp too.’ ”

The Tampa Rowing Club’s Kiersten DeHaven and Hillary Schmidt also reached the national final, as the pair finished sixth in the women’s double sculls in a time of 8:12.07.

The duo was disappointed with their finish, but happy with the way they rowed.

“They are so used to being quick out at the beginning, and having everything go according to plan,” TRC coach Call Collins said. “They’re so aggressive, and they have better fitness than most crews in the regional and southern levels, and when you get up here there’s some really strong programs, and they certainly have the genetic size to back it up.”