4/28/2004
Results
PRINCETON, N.J. ? Georgetown lightweight men's crew traveled to New Jersey this past weekend to wrap up their regular season with a doubleheader. Saturday saw the Hoyas facing the Princeton Tigers for the second time this year, and the University of Pennsylvania, while Sunday matched Georgetown against second ranked Harvard, as well as Boston College and the University of Delaware.
Conditions at Lake Carnegie on Saturday were rough, with a strong starboard to port cross-headwind. The Second Freshman, Freshman, and Second Varsity all recorded decent races, but none were able to overcome Princeton, although Penn did fall to the Hoyas in the Second Varsity event.
Entering their race, the varsity crew knew that their start would be critical. It had been the focus of much attention in the preceding week, but against a vengeful Princeton crew and in harsh conditions, no rower expressed more than guarded optimism about their prospects. Breaking with tradition, fortunately, Georgetown had an excellent start that left them even with the Tigers after settling from their high strokes. A knockdown, drag-out slugfest ensued in the middle thousand, with the Hoyas edging out to as much as a three seat lead at multiple times and Princeton reacting to reel them back in without fail. Entering the last third of the race, Georgetown made its best attempt yet to claim victory, with a strong move that threatened to end the race. Princeton was able to respond in kind, as they started their sprint early and began to claw their way back towards the lead. With the wire rapidly approaching, Georgetown mustered one final push that was successful in halting Princeton?s advancing bow and crossed about two seats in the lead. After the race, three-seat Blair Berbert (B ?05) commented on the conditions and their affect on the outcome. ?It was pretty crazy out there at times. We haven?t had to race in winds like those since Eastern Sprints last year, but all you can do is work on rowing clean and keeping the boat moving.?
Sunday morning Georgetown traveled across town to face off against Harvard, fresh off a 1 second loss to top ranked Navy the day before, Boston College, and Delaware. Proving that someone up there has a sense of humor, the conditions on Mercer Lake were nearly identical to those the day before, with perhaps slightly flatter water but still a strong cross-headwind. The Second and First Freshman races essentially mirrored the preceding day?s results, and the Second Varsity, while losing to Harvard?s Second Varsity, posted a very strong result over the Crimson?s Third Varsity as well as Delaware?s Second Varsity.
The varsity race saw Georgetown unsuccessfully chasing a fast Harvard crew but holding off a hard charging opponent in the last 500 meters, this time an emboldened Boston College looking to settle the score from the Jesuit Invitational earlier this spring. The Hoyas finished slightly less than three seconds in arrears of Harvard, a margin that they hope to reduce or make up entirely in the three weeks that they have until Eastern Sprints, which take place on May 16th.
The line-up, from bow to stern, of the 1F was Andrew Harried (C '07), Ralph Crowley (B '07), Connor Schillerstrom (F '07), Patrick Sheridan (C '07), John McGroarty (C '07), Michael Dorff (C '07), Michael McGrath (F '07), James Curley (B '07), and coxswain Christopher Moore (B '07) and of the 2F was Pierre Maitre (B '07), Paul Elliot (C '07), Nate Ro (B '07), Jonathon Olbrych (N '07), Dominik Peisl (B '07), Matt Kamenski (C '07), Tom Byrnes (B '07), Brendan Sullivan (C '07), Michael Manuccia (C '07). The line-up of the 2V was Dave Hansen (B '06), Chris Fawal (C '06), Jan Halaska (C '06), Will Sheridan (C '04), Tony Leotti (C '04), Leeds Nudd (C '06), Kyle Hatton (C '05), John Fenwick (B '05), and coxswain Nick Marinakis (F '06). Finally, the Varsity was Jack Pfeiffer (C '06), Geoff Mikelsons (B '04), Blair Berbert (B '05), Kyler Willet (C '06), Brad Kuntsher (C '05), Lechleiter (C '04), James O'Gara (B '05), Cameron Booth (C '05), and coxswain Lousia Seferis (F '05).
