Fall Recap

   Sorry for the enormous delay in blog posting.  A lot has happened between last spring and now, and I hope I don't miss anything as I fill you in.
  Personally, I have had an exciting time rowing in these past months.  Over the summer I was lucky enough to row with Riverside Boatclub and work for Community Rowing Inc., both out of Boston.  I had a blast this summer, making the final at the USRowing National Championships (Men's 2x) and getting two 3rd place finishes at Canadian Henley (U23 2x Top US Crew, Sr. Men's 8+).  I mention this summer because all of my great success and memories would not have been possible without the awesome Marist Crew Alumni support I received.  Will Allen ('06) was a great friend at Riverside Boat Club and Brendan Mulvey ('09) was a great co-worker at CRI.  My biggest thank you goes to Andrew Hashway ('07) who not only provided great advice at Riverside, but provided a room for my girlfriend and I to live in for two months when we needed to sudden leave our apartment in July.  I can say for certain that this summer would be possible without the strength of the Marist Crew Alumni and its support for current rowers.  Thank you guys!

Now enough about me, let me share how our fall went...

We started the season off knowing that we have a large amount to learn, but also a lot of potential.  We found ourselves in the position of having only one senior (Me!)  With the graduation of 4 seniors from the 1v, there were many large shoes to fill.  Luckily for us, the younger rowers stepped up tremendously and have contributed to both the 1v and 2v.  Sophomore walkon Chris Behnke has been one of the shining star of this group, pulling some of the best times on the team in only his 2nd year rowing.  Harrison Reed and Doug Woolley round out the sophomore group in the 1v.

We were forced to overcome some adversity early on when we lost a key member of the 1v in James Wojcik(Jr.) to a shoulder injury.  We had to row the Head of the Charles without James, and managed a solid, but disappointing effort.  It was our first head race of the season and we didn't execute well.  Hopefully the group next year can be better prepared and take advantage of this special event.  On a positive it was awesome to hear the cheers for Marist coming from Riverside (I think Hashway was the loudest).

The Head of the Fish (Saratoga Lake) was the next weekend, and had a decidedly different tone.  We went in there hungry, with a lot of experience on Fish Creek.  I couldn't even count the number of times that 1v rowers Sam Garrison (Albany), Seaton Debritko (Schenectady) and myself (Burnt Hills) have raced that course, let alone Cox. Emma Flynn (A Saratoga Rowing native).  That being said, I was a little bit too comfortable in my Collegiate 1x that opened the day.  I left a little too much in the tank for the end (headracing 1x rookie mistake) and had to settle for 3rd place.  The 2v was able to secure a 4th place finish, which was a nice showing for their only race of the fall.  We had a strong performance in the 1v, getting 2nd place behind perennial Head of the Charles winner, Williams.  This was a good rebound from the week before.  The big surprise of the weekend was the novice 8s securing 2nd and 15th place finishes out of 26.  This was a tremendous achievement and is thanks to the dedication from a strong group of recruits and walk ons, as well as new Assistant Coach Matt Lavin.  Matt has done an excellent job promoting a culture of hard work to these freshman, and it has clearly began to pay dividends already.  We are all looking forward to a strong spring and very promising futures for these freshman.

We now look forward to the bleek and dreary pain of winter erg season that I'm sure you all miss so much.  To keep things interesting during the winter months I'll be doing a profile of a rower on the team every now and then, so that you guys get the chance to know some of us.

See you in the spring!