April 12, 2008

EAST HARTFORD, CONN. - The Saint Joseph's Men's Rowing team traveled to Connecticut on Saturday April 12, to race nationally-ranked Trinity College. The Hawks found that the Connecticut River, and #12 Trinity were just too fast, as all three races went to the Bantams.

Despite the Connecticut River being 17 feet above normal with a raging current, the Hawks and Bantams found a way to race. After wading their shells into the water and floating them out to the dock, the rowers were ferried over to the dock to launch.

In the Varsity 8 race Trinity jumped out to an early lead off the start and slowly pulled away with a better base speed. The Hawks managed to hang on down a few seats open water until about the last 500 meters of the 2,300 meter race, when Trinity took up the cadence and pulled away to win by 11.8 seconds.

The Second Varsity 8 race was a similar story with Trinity's 2V establishing an early lead on the Hawks and steadily pulling away to a 11.7 seconds victory. Trinity's 3V eventually won the race as they benefited from the substantial current to shoot ahead and surprise everyone.

The Freshman 8 was the closest race of the day with Trinity again taking the early lead. But the Bantams couldn't shake the Hawks in second half of the race and SJU closed the gap going into the last 500 meters. A strong sprint from Trinity held off the Hawks at the line as SJU finished 4.5 seconds behind.

Despite being disappointed by the results, head coach Drew Hill ('74) felt that the team had a good experience and learned from the race. Hill commented, "It was good trip and the guys had a lot of fun - you can't often say that about a loss. Trinity is a top notch program and very deserving of their #12 national ranking."

Next up for the Hawks is the SIRA Regatta in Tennessee, where SJU will face their first Dad Vail competition of the 2008 season.

Senior Adam Stoll said that the team is looking forward to testing their speed against traditional Dad Vail foes Temple, FIT, Jacksonville, Grand Valley, Delaware, Georgia Tech and defending Dad Vail champs, Purdue.

"Despite our losses in the first three races, we have been getting faster each week", said Stoll. "This weekend is a big opportunity to demonstrate those improvements, collect some medals, and position ourselves for a run at the Dad Vail title."

The Hawks will travel to Oak Ridge on Friday, April 18th. Preliminary heats begin on Saturday with grand final races on Sunday.

Line-ups: Varsity 8: Str - Gavin Adams, 7 - Tim Strybuck, 6 - Glenn Griffin, 5 - Sean King, 4 - Jordan Marwin, 3 - Kevin Jacobs, 2 - Marc Mallott 1 - Adam Stoll, Cx - Paul Leggieri.

2V 8: Str - Ryan Huck, 7 - Adam Iaccio, 6 - Kevin Burrows, 5 - Max Schipper, 4 - Jack Drewniak, 3 - Brendan Blessington, 2 - Michael Wingrove, 1 - Conor Malone, Cx - Sarah Jost

Freshmen 8: Str - Chase Powell, 7 - Austin Moench, 6 - Dan Gallagher, 5 - Mike Lavin, 4 - Steve Olenik, 3 - Steve Dutcher, 2 - Mike Gibel, 1 - Griffin Kelly, Cx - Ryan Pawling

3V/2F Lt 8: Str - Bill Mecca, 7 - Bryce Cross, 6 - Rich Appell, 5 - Rick DeFino, 4 - Luke Dentino, 3 - Matt Carrol, 2 - Billy Huzar, 1 Nick Melitti, Cx - Stacey Gorin