Due to the injury of Capt. Ryan Wojcik in CT last week, some lineups had to be shuffled around. Brendan O'Bryan was brought up from the 2V, Sean Patterson took the empty seat in the 2V, and both boats had people rowing in different seats than they were used to so far. The practices started off very rocky early in the week, but by Friday, we had really come together and were excited, but unsure how we would fair at the Knecht Cup.
The bus left Friday afternoon and both boats were able to get out and practice on the course, which is always nice to have before a regatta. Unfortunately, it was quite cold and raining the entire time. After the team got back to the hotel, we changed out of our wet clothes, warmed up and headed to Wegman's for dinner. The Wegman's experience was great, especially for the freshman who had never been to one. I think they were a bit overwhelmed by all the dinner options, as Wegman's is essentially a combination grocery store/cafeteria in this case. I, myself enjoyed a great crabcake sandwich with sweet potatoes and rice for only 10 bucks! Very full and very satisfied, we all slept well at the hotel the night before racing began.
The 2V had many racing opportunities over the weekend, as they rowed the 2V8 and also broke down into a 1V4 and a 2V4. The 2V8 drew a very tough heat in a thin field, and ultimately finished 4th, behind eventual winner Temple, Bucknell and Marietta, in a time of 6:48.02. This was actually a fine showing, as all of the teams that beat them have many more people on their team, so the 2V is one of the better boats, as opposed to just the only boat other than V8. Teams like Marietta and Temple often can boat multiple 8s and 4s at a regatta, and not have anyone rowing more than once. Unfortunately for us, if you aren't in the 1V, your in the 2V and with only one sub, the lack of depth was exposed when Ryan's injury occurred. The 2V is now back intact, and have their spirits up for the rest of the season getting back on track.
2V8:
Cox- Bre Rodriguez
Stroke- Billy Hawxhurst
7- Ben Smith
6- James Wojcik
5- Ben Clark
4- Pete Vinnecombe
3- Sean Patterson
2- Paul Tracey
Bow- John Boss
The 1V and 2V 4's didn't fare much better than the 2V8. The 1V4 finished last in a quick heat, with a time of 7:54.59. The 2V4 was the talk of the regatta, and definitely the most hyped up on the Marist team going into the event, earning nicknames such as the Death 4, Battle 4, Defcon 4 and my personal name for them, THE FUN V! The 2V4 was a final only at night on Saturday, and they placed 4th with a time of 7:14.20. You might be asking yourself how the 2V4 was 40 seconds faster than the 1V4, and it is important to note at all races, that conditions can vary greatly throughout the course of a day, or even an hour. Both of these boats had decent rows, especially when you consider they only practiced them once last week.
Lineups:
1V4 2V4
Cox-Bre Rodriguez Kyle Ward
Stroke- James Wojcik Billy Hawxhurst
3- John Boss Sean Patterson
2- Paul Tracey Pete Vinnecombe
Bow- Ben Smith Ben Clark
The Men's Freshman 8 continued to perform well, even without some of their best rowers, due to injury and lineup adjustments. They qualified for semi finals with a 3rd place finish (6:38.79). The semifinal displayed the speed of the field, as Marist finished last in the semi (6:35.33), but were only 2.5s from placing 4th. Relegated to the petite final, the boys placed 5th (6:38.46), ending the regatta with a 11th place overall finish.
The Men's V8 is the main event of most regattas, and this year it certainly didn't disappoint. We were unsure as to how we would perform without Ryan, one of our strongest rowers both technically and physically, and also with a totally reshuffled lineup. We thought we had a pretty tough heat, with Grand Valley State and Mercyhurst primed to give us trouble, along with a Lasalle crew looking to exact revenge. We needed a top 3 showing to move on to semifinals, and about 20 strokes into the piece, that didn't look to be much of a challenge. We blasted off the starting line and quickly moved out to a few seat advantage over GVSU, and almost a length on the field. We never looked back, and after 1k were not challenged again and cruised comfortably to a 1st place heat finish (6:19.15). We knew that going into the semifinal, it would be a battle just to make the final, considering the substantial depth of the field this year. We went to the line with confidence in our race plan after an impressive heat performance, and the semi went off without a hitch. We flew off the line at a 45, and quickly established a small length on Temple, leaving the rest of the field in our respective wakes. Through 1k, we had as much as a half boat length lead over Temple, with the rest of the pack (Hobart, Delaware, Marietta and Mercyhurst) well back. Temple proved to be the more fit crew as they were able to come back and walk through us in the last 500, winning with a time of 5:56.41 to our 5:58.00. Our semifinal time was good enough to be the 2nd fastest qualifying time for finals, and we knew with a well executed race, we could have a great shot at medaling.
The final on Sunday was one for the ages, and will not soon be forgotten by any spectators. Crowds often gather just for the Men's V8 final and this crowd was wild as we drew down the course. After another strong start, we found ourselves battling with Temple to put our bow ball in front, with Trinity a foot or two behind us, and Delaware a few seats back. This race was a battle all the way down the course, and one of the best I have ever been a part of. Much like the semifinal, the much larger and more fit Temple crew pulled away in the last 500 and won with a 6:00.15. Delaware threw down a devastating last 750m and were able to pull ahead of us for 2nd (6:01.59). Finally, we crossed the finish line right with Trinity, and neither crew was sure who was 3rd/4th. It was revealed that Trinity was 3rd and beat us by .33 seconds. Our final time was a 6:02.66, and as you can imagine, with 1st through 4th separated by 2.5 seconds, the crowd was lucky enough to witness a tremendous race. Although disappointed that we didn't medal, we are happy that even with a replacement rower from the 2V, we cut down the distance between us and Trinity from 3.5 seconds the week before, to less than half a second. ECACs should be a great race at the end of the season, and I strongly encourage all parent's and alumni to be in attendance. Our outlook for the season is incredibly positive now, as Temple is one of the faster teams in the country every year, and we were so close to them, without our true lineup.
GF Results
| 1. | Temple | 6:00.15 | |
| 2. | Delaware | 6:01.59 | 1.44 |
| 3. | Trinity | 6:02.33 | 2.18 |
| 4. | Marist | 6:02.66 | 2.51 |
| 5. | Drexel | 6:07.04 | 6.89 |
| 6. | Grand Valley | 6:08.01 |
V8 Lineup
Cox- Kyle Ward
Stroke- James Barker
7- Sam Garrison
6- Eric Mathes
5- Andy Sayles
4- Bill Lyons
3- Max Kenney
2- Seaton Debritko
Bow- Brendan O'Bryan
This weekend is the MAAC Championship, which we are all of course, very excited about. The Men's Team is primed to win its 11th consecutive and 14th overall team points trophy, and our goal is to sweep every event with a dominant display in the Men's V8 as the cornerstone. All of the Varsity and Frosh boats should perform very, very well, and for you parents, this is a great regatta to watch. Mercer County Park is a nice venue, with a fully buoyed course, and a nice pavilion and gazebo on the point to watch racing all the way down the course. Most rowers will be racing at least 2 times, as we are entered in the Men's V8+, 2V8+, V4+, 2V4+, LWT 4+, N8+, N4+ and V2-. Hope to see all you parents and alumni there!!!
