WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's rowing teams hit the waters of the Potomac River on Friday and Saturday as the heavyweights faced off against Navy, Drexel and the Florida Institute of Technology as part of the George Washington Invitational. The lightweights competed against Navy in the JJ Forster Cup.   
 
Heavyweight Recap
On Friday, the first and second varsity boats took to the river first as they raced against squads from Navy. The first varsity boat came within inches of the victory, but Navy was able to hold on finishing just .63 seconds ahead of the Hoyas. In the second varsity race, the Midshipmen took control from the start and crossed the line first by 13 seconds.
 
On Saturday, Georgetown faced different competition as they raced against the Florida Institute of Technology. The first varsity dropped the first race of the morning while the second varsity posted a strong first-place finish by nearly 11 seconds. The winning boat was comprised of Persis Moore (Boca Raton, Fla.) as coxswain, followed by Owen O'Brien Powers (Portland, Ore.), Jack Mozingo (Darien, Conn.), Gavin Lafferty (Jenkintown, Pa.), Zach Lee (Chelsea, Mich.), Joe O'Brien (Havertown, Pa.), Max Keating (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), Robert Warming (Newton, Mass.) and Henry Reinstein (Palo Alto, Calif.). The third varsity saw its first action of the day as they competed against Navy, but fell short, completing the race in 6:13.92.

"While the results don't show it, I feel like we had a very productive couple days of racing at the GW Invite," Head Coach Luke Agnini said. "It was a very challenging week for the squad with a number of guys in the varsity being taken out with sickness or injury almost right when we got back from Philadelphia. All three of our boats dealt with lineup changes all the way up to the morning of racing. While we can't control our circumstances, we can always control our response to adversity and our approach on race day. And those long, aggressive strokes will always, at least, leave you with a fighting chance on the race course. We had a few guys who had their first race in the varsity ever and that experience will pay off as the season continues. This weekend was a great opportunity in all the boats for guys to be given a shot and give their best on race day."
 
In the second session of Saturday's races, the Hoyas took on Drexel. In the first varsity battle, Georgetown was edged by seven seconds. Despite closing the gap in the final 500 meters, the second varsity crew wasn't able to overcome the early deficit and finished in a time of 5:50.41. The third varsity boats hit the water last and Georgetown was unable to fend off the Dragons finishing in 6:17.27.
 
"I was very pleased again with the 2V," Agnini continued. "The body of their races was very aggressive. They usually find themselves going the same speed as the other crews, but three to four beats lower. It was a great sign for the future of this program. While it was tough on the day of to race your butt off and not get the result you want, it is something they will be able to look back on as a formative time in the season."

Lightweight Recap
Against Navy, both the first and second varsity squads came within a second of winning in their respective races. The first varsity eight finished with a time of 5:44.1 while the second varsity boat came across the line in 5:46.3. Rounding out the day was the battle against the third varsity squads and the Midshipmen were able to complete the sweep beating the Blue & Gray by a couple boat lengths.
 
The Hoyas will return to the water on Saturday, April 20 as the heavyweights travel back to Princeton, New Jersey for races against Holy Cross, Temple and Marist. The lightweights will compete against Penn and Princeton in Philadelphia.

Results (Heavyweight – Navy)
First Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:55.18)
Coxswain: Maxim Goohs, Stroke: Emmett Orts, 7: Luke Nassif, 6: Vincent Zhu, 5: Ian Estevao, 4: Tripp Cave, 3: Douglas Dreyer, 2: Blake Sassaman, Bow: Thomas Kolnik
 
Second Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 6:08.80)
Coxswain: Persis Moore, Stroke: Owen O'Brien Powers, 7: Jack Mozingo, 6: Gavin Lafferty, 5: Zach Lee, 4: Joe O'Brien, 3: Max Keating, 2: Robert Warming, Bow: Henry Reinstein

Third Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 6:13.92)
Coxswain: William Rau, Stroke: Kyle Harrison, 7: Alex Rodrick, 6: Joseph Ramirez-Cardenas, 5: Aiden McAleer, 4: Tom Petruskevicius, 3: Blake Chapman, 2: Santo Scarfone, Bow: Austin Sammons
 
Results (Heavyweight – FIT)
First Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:47.78)
Coxswain: Maxim Goohs, Stroke: Emmett Orts, 7: Luke Nassif, 6: Vincent Zhu, 5: Ian Estevao, 4: Tripp Cave, 3: Douglas Dreyer, 2: Blake Sassaman, Bow: Thomas Kolnik
 
Second Varsity Men's 8+
(First Place – 5:47.12)
Coxswain: Persis Moore, Stroke: Owen O'Brien Powers, 7: Jack Mozingo, 6: Gavin Lafferty, 5: Zach Lee, 4: Joe O'Brien, 3: Max Keating, 2: Robert Warming, Bow: Henry Reinstein

Results (Heavyweight – Drexel)
First Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:46.74)
Coxswain: Maxim Goohs, Stroke: Emmett Orts, 7: Luke Nassif, 6: Vincent Zhu, 5: Ian Estevao, 4: Tripp Cave, 3: Douglas Dreyer, 2: Blake Sassaman, Bow: Thomas Kolnik
Second Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:50.41)
Coxswain: Persis Moore, Stroke: Owen O'Brien Powers, 7: Jack Mozingo, 6: Gavin Lafferty, 5: Zach Lee, 4: Joe O'Brien, 3: Max Keating, 2: Robert Warming, Bow: Henry Reinstein
 
Third Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 6:17.27)
Coxswain: William Rau, Stroke: Kyle Harrison, 7: Alex Rodrick, 6: Joseph Ramirez-Cardenas, 5: Aiden McAleer, 4: Tom Petruskevicius, 3: Blake Chapman, 2: Santo Scarfone, Bow: Austin Sammons
 
Results (Lightweight)
First Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:44.1)
Coxswain: Hannah Elwell, Stroke: John Dailey, 7: Joe Cecil, 6: Ryan Walter, 5: Thomas Ruggles, 4: Artym Hayda, 3: Olivier Malle, 2: Reid Noch, Bow: Charlie Koontz 
 
Second Varsity Men's 8+
(Second Place – 5:46.3)
Coxswain: Ryan Zuccala, Stroke: William Mangan, 7: Ryan Teetsel, 6: Liam Lafferty, 5: Sean Haggerty, 4: Jonathan Menendez, 3: Hector Formoso-Murias, 2: Kiefer Meuller, Bow: Peter DiGiovanni
 
Third Varsity Men's 8+
(Fourth Place – 6:03.3)
Coxswain: Helena Yang, Stroke: Grant Draper, 7: Cass Boehm, 6: Ryan Young, 5: Mark LaForce, 4: John Dolan, 3: Mike Jones, 2: Harry Sardinia, Bow: Timothy Rudolph-Math