June 7, 2007
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown Men's Heavyweight and Men and Women's Lightweight squads finished the 2007 season at the IRA (Intercollegiate Rowing Association) National Championships in Cherry Hill, NJ. Racing took place on the Cooper River from May 31 - June 2.
The Hoyas finished a strong third out of 12 crews in the Men's Varsity Lightweight Eight. Cornell won the event with a time of 5:46.344. Harvard was second in 5:47.466 followed closely by Georgetown in 5:47.495. Members of the bronze medal crew were sophomore coxswain Charlie Snyder (Boca Raton, Fla./Pine Crest School), seniors Tom Byrnes (New Vernon, N.J./Delbarton), Jim Curley (Los Altos Hills, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep) and Mike McGrath (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep), juniors Billy Quirk (Needham, Mass./Roxbury Latin School) and Phil Cimbak (Ambler, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep), and sophomores Scott Dotto (Westwood, N.J./Don Bosco Prep), John Connolly (Lafayette Hill, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and Tim Freeman (Portland, Ore./Jesuit).
"I am really proud of what this team has done. Despite the difficulties early this year, we persevered and never lost sight of our goal," said McGrath. "While we hoped to finish with a gold medal, the third place finish is no less remarkable given the tightness of the racing. With only 1.1 seconds separating first from third and the margin between 2nd place and 3rd place equal to .03 seconds, the field was very strong."
"We wanted to take command of the final and I thought the guys rowed an audacious race. Their bronze medal is a testament to the solidarity and determination of this young crew," said Men's Lightweight Crew Coach Evans Liolin. "Our team is a tight-knit group and they love working at this sport. We'll continue to improve and have fun pursuing the big win together."
On the heavyweight side, the men's varsity eight placed fourth in the third-level final to finish 16th of 24 crews. The men's junior varsity eight placed third in the third-level final, finishing 15th of 22 crews. The freshman eight placed sixth in the petite final to finish 12th of 24 crews, matching its performance from 2006
The Women's Varsity Lightweight Eight placed sixth in the grand final to finish sixth overall of 12 crews.
For complete results, click here .
