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Rough conditions Greet Hawk Men at Jesuit Invitational
March 23, 2006
CAMDEN, NJ - A frigid 28 degrees and a blustery 15 - 20 mph cross tailwind greeted the Saint Joseph's men's rowing team at their first spring regatta, the Jesuit Invitational. Mirroring the conditions, SJU had a rough day on the water. The Hawks' Second Freshman 8 posted the day's top finish winning its event. Racing started out well for the Hawks as the 2nd Freshmen 8 won the first men's race by a substantial 20-second margin over Georgetown and Boston College. The SJU 2F was made up of coxswain Ana Diaz, with rowers Michael Boone, Kevin Burrows, Brett Cavanaugh, Chris Frystock, Doug Cleveland, James O'Donoghue, Michael Morris, and Dan McCann. Unfortunately for the Hawks this was their only winning performance on the day with four 2nd place finishes (Varsity Lt. 8, 2nd Varsity 8, 1st Freshmen 8, and Varsity Lt. 4) and one 3rd (Varsity 8). Head Coach Drew Hill was disappointed with the performance of the varsity squad. "We had an opportunity to win the Varsity 8 and Varsity Lightweight 8 as both boats were leading the race around the 1/2 way point. Unfortunately, despite all of the hard work we did training in the winter, our guys raced defensively over the final 1000 meters and lost the swing, the rhythm that got us out in front. The good news is that we proved we have the speed to race with the best teams in our league. It wasn't a great day, but we'll learn from it. We have a couple guys returning from injuries and internships next week and that should help our boats."
The Freshmen 8 was in a close race with Georgetown, battling all the way down the course. The loss (1.3 seconds) was a tough lesson for the Hawk newcomers but Coach Dan Goettner saw plenty of potential in the Freshmen performance. "Despite having a couple of our freshmen rowing varsity we still had a strong opportunity to win the race. With 200 meters to go we were slightly in the lead. A loss of concentration in the rough water caused one of our oars to get stuck and Georgetown's momentum put them in front in the last 100 meters. It was a solid race to start our year but unfortunately the "W" slipped through our fingers." Next up for the Hawks is the Murphy Cup Regatta on the Schuylkill River March 25th. The Hawks (the 2005 Murphy Cup champions) will face stiff competition from perennial foes Army, Dowling, George Washington, Lehigh and Temple. FINAL RESULTS: Varsity 8 Lightweight 8 2nd Varsity 8 Freshmen 8 2nd Freshmen 8 Varsity 4 |
