WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's rowing team, fresh off of a successful showing at the Head of the Charles, sent five boats to compete in the Head of the Schuylkill on Sunday in Philadelphia. All five crews raced in the 2.7-mile, 28-boat Men's Championship Heavy Eights race.

GU's heavyweight "A" turned in the best time of the day for the Hoyas, crossing the finish line in a time of 13:00.71, the fourth-fastest time in the event. The time was just over a second behind the boat from Drexel and less than five seconds out of second place.

The Blue & Gray's heavyweight "B" squad placed 15th with a time of 13:41.52, edging out the boat from Ithaca by less than two seconds. GU's heavyweight "C" crew finished in a time of 15:28.84, placing 27th.

"We had a short week coming off the Boston trip and the squad was really challenged by sickness and midterms," Georgetown Head Coach Luke Agnini said. "We re-shifted the lineups a bit and had two new guys in the first boat. Vaughan Merrick and Ray Dunn did a great job in stern pair of the club 8 in Boston and we wanted to see what they could do in the first boat. While it wasn't the cleanest run down the course, it was a good battle with Penn the entire race and, while they still got us by a few seconds, it was a good improvement from Boston."

The Hoyas also sent a freshman heavyweight boat which raced the course in a time of 13:52.38. They beat out the next-fastest crew, from St. Joseph's University, by more than seven seconds.

GU's lightweight squad enjoyed a top-10 finish, completing the course in 13:21.39 to place 10th. The boat narrowly edged out the crew from the University Barge Club by a margin of less than a second.

"We are having a lot of fun giving new guys opportunities to perform in the first boat and it really has enriched the inter squad competition," Agnini said. "It will be very difficult selecting a lineup for the top boat in the spring, and that is a good thing."

Lineups
Heavyweight "A": Coxswain James Shearman (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron), John Carroll (Bronxville, N.Y./Fordham Prep), Ray Dunn (Harvard, Mass./The Groton School), Graham Miller (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick), Robert Danziger (Lincoln, Mass./Belmont Hill), Vaughan Merrick (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich), Liam Carty (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Taft School), Bram Ouweleen (Evaston, Ill./Evaston Township) and Jimmy McDermott (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga).

Heavyweight "B": Coxswain Emma Lux (Valencia, Calif./The Taft School), Bryan Renslo (Palos Verdes, Calif./Chadwick), Nakul Makkad (Fullerton, Calif./Fairmont Prep), Hayden Pascal (Greenwich, Conn./Taft School), Carson Yates (Oklahoma City, Okla./Heritage Hall), Sean Barry (Vero Beach, Fla./Saint Edwards), Mike Lewers (Wayne, Pa./Malvern Prep), Tom Walker (Chestnut Hill, Pa./LaSalle) and Max Paterson.

Heavyweight "C": Coxswain Brody Ladd, Nathan Wegbreit (Wadsworth, Ill./Homechool), Conor Winston (Greenwich, Conn./Brunswich School), Aiden McAleer (Riverside, Conn./Taft School), Ian Dunne (Rye, N.Y./Iona Prep), Mark Keffer, Max Magid, Brian Jordan and Will Thacher.

Freshmen: Coxswain Colette Gilner (Sandy Springs, Md./Stone Ridge), Joshua Gatcke (Jordan Stanton, Ontario/Ridley College/Shawnigan Lake School), Matthew Fritschen (Denver, Colo./Denver School of Arts), Alex Blackwood (Chatham, N.J./Lawrenceville School), Emmett Orts (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends Select), Francesco Ambrosio (Naples, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Sacro Cuore), Ethan Rosen (North Salem, N.Y./Peddie School), Will McGiurk and Sam Thacher.

Lightweight: Coxswain Robert Papel (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell Academy), Jack Sardinia (Hamburg, N.Y./Canisius HS), Hector Formoso-Murias (Key Biscayne, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep), Luke Prioleau (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto), Kevin McGowan (Bowie, Md./Gonzaga HS), Theodor Wiik (Oslo, Norway/Foss Videregaende Skole), Conor McCarrick (Valhalla, N.Y./Fordham Prep), Paul Wrenn (Jacksonville, Fla./Stanton College Prep) and Artym Hayda (Providence, R.I./The Wheeler School).