Coventry, CT Weekend Recap

Both the men's and women's team brought everyone to Coventry, CT this weekend for some early morning, exciting racing.  The weekend was broken down into two different races, with Day 1 against Trinity, UConn and Coast Guard, and Day 2 against Lasalle and UConn.  The weekend had its ups and downs, with the only constant being increasingly windy and choppy conditions.

Day 1: 

The 2V started off the day for us, earning a strong 2nd place showing.  The 2V lead the race, up until the last 500m or so, when they were sprinted through by a fit Trinity boat.  It was a very encouraging race for the 2V guys, as every week they continue to put together a better executed race.  Hopefully next week they will have it for the full 2k!

Times:

Trinity A	6:06.7
Marist	6:13.74
Coast Guard	6:24.6
Trinity B	6:34.5
UConn	6:36.2

2V Lineup:
Cox- Kyle Ward
Stroke- Billy Hawxhurst
7- Brendan O' Bryan
6- James Wojcik
5- Ben Clark
4- Pete Vinnecombe
3- John Boss
2- Paul Tracey
Bow- Ben Smith

The 1V was very excited for its race, as we haven't faced Trinity yet this spring, but we know they will be a team to beat at future events.  The first 1k of the race went well, as we were right there with Trinity. We didn't handle the rough conditions as well as we'd have liked in the last half of the race, and Trinity was able to pull away and win with a 3.5s margin.  We absolutely destroyed UConn, who was in the race for maybe the first 20 strokes.

Times:

Trinity	5:52.7
Marist	5:56.01
UConn	6:27.85

Lineup:
Cox- Chris Leonard
Stroke- Bill Lyons
7- Andy Sayles
6- Eric Mathes
5- Ryan Wojcik
4- Seaton Debritko
3- Max Kenney
2- James Barker
Bow- Sam Garrison

The Frosh 8 handled their conditions well, as they continue to try new lineups with new rowers, and work through some injuries.  They ended up with a strong 2nd place showing against a deep Trinity novice roster.

Times:

Trinity   6:11.6
Marist   6:16.7
Day 2: The Marist Men found themselves up against some adverse conditions in Sunday's racing.  The 2V and Freshman had to make a 5:20AM bus, as their racing concluded before 7:00.  Racing that early was the only way to get this race off, as the conditions rapidly deteriorated.  By the time the V8 took the water, the tail wind had picked up and the lake provided some lovely 3ft swells with whitecaps for us.   The 2V8+ dominated its only competition, UConn, putting up a time of 6:22.10.  They defeated UConn by 23s and cruised in the last half of the race to victory.  The V4 was composed of 2V guys, and they handled UConn and Lasalle with almost as much ease as the 8, winning with a time of 6:54.31, besting UConn (7:00.43) and Lasalle (7:16.33). 2V Lineup:           Cox- Kyle Ward Stroke- Billy Hawxhurst 7- Brendan O' Bryan 6- James Wojcik 5- Ben Clark 4- Pete Vinnecombe 3- John Boss 2- Paul Tracey Bow- Ben Smith V4 Lineup: Stroke- James Wojcik 3- Brendan O'Bryan 2- Paul Tracey Bow- Ben Smith Cox- Kyle Ward The V8, although ultimately triumphant, had a large setback before the race was even started.  Capt. Ryan Wojcik had been rowing through an injury all week, and it caught up with him during the warmups.  Almost immediately his rib injury was too much to deal with, and we decided to turn around and not risk further injury for Ryan.  Freshman Harrison Reed jumped into 5 seat, having just demolished a delicious egg sandwich from the food tent, and we went back out.  The conditions were some of the worst I have ever raced in, but we handled them very well.  The swells proved to be too much for Lasalle to handle and we jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.  We won with a time of 6:02.98, beating Lasalle (6:23.5) and UConn (6:43.52) handily.  This race got off just in the nick of time, as the Women's 2V8 race was cancelled as it was underway, due to the now enormous white caps that had taken over the lake. V8 Lineup: Cox- Chris Leonard Stroke- Bill Lyons 7- Andy Sayles 6- Eric Mathes 5- Harrison Reed 4- Seaton Debritko 3- Max Kenney 2- James Barker Bow- Sam Garrison The Men's Frosh 8 had an unfortunate amount of bad luck in their race against Lasalle and UConn.  They were in the lead for the vast majority of the race, but 4 crabs caught by a novice walkon rower proved to be too much to overcome.  They finished in 2nd place (6:20.5) behind Lasalle (6:11.38) and ahead of UConn (6:46.44). Overall the weekend went well, with the Varsity winning all of its races in convincing fashion.  The Men's freshman proved up to the task, and with some better luck, and a lesson learned in rough conditions, their season outlook is still very bright.   The team will be in action this weekend at the Knecht Cup in Camden, NJ.  Hope to see you there! CHECKOUT THE NEW PHOTO'S TAB ON THE SIDEBAR!