Nov. 10, 2009
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Georgetown University Lightweights finished the head racing season with a solid showing at the annual Princeton Three-Mile Chase. The Hoya varsity was off to a very aggressive start when a submerged log rendered their steering system useless.
"The Chase is great because it affords competitors an opportunity to race in multiple events. For the lightweights in particular, we see everyone we'll face in the spring. We had a great week of practice leading up to the Chase and our varsity rowed a strong first half of the race." said Head Lightweight Coach Evans Liolin. "Despite the tough circumstances, we managed to close the Charles gap by four seconds, so I think our guys made the best of a tough situation." Co-Captain Tim Carey (Fairview Park, OH/St. Ignatius) agreed.
"We put ourselves in a strong position to win early and were only four seconds off [eventual winner] Princeton at the big turn, but we were left rudderless with several turns and half the course left. Ultimately that cost us. Still, we'll go into the winter with quite a bit of confidence in what we can do and even more motivation to attack the work."
The lightweight freshmen made their racing debut at the Chase and discovered that while they have boatloads of potential, there is much to be done before this driven bunch assembles what they want from their first year as Hoya oarsmen.
"The Chase was tough," said Lightweight Freshman Coach Chris Richbourg, "but I think it gives us some good feedback for what we need to do moving forward and I'm confident that we will continue to pick up speed. These guys have done a lot of good work and they've set themselves up for an excellent spring, so we'll continue to build on that. We would have liked to have come home with a better result, but our focus is on the spring, and what we're doing now will help put us where we want to be in May."
"You come to the Chase looking for motivation heading into winter and I'd say we have plenty." said Liolin. "This years' team has taken a while to define its character, but a couple months in, I really like where they're at and I want to work very, very hard for them. When it comes to the day to day for a rowing coach, you can't ask for much more."
